Loyola’s recently released Campus Climate Assessment revealed that 16 percent of survey respondents had experienced unwanted sexual contact or conduct.

These results have brought issues of sexual assault and harassment to the forefront of campus discussions.

Title IX Deputy Director Diana Ward plans to use the information discovered from the survey to ensure that Loyola as a community is better prepared to deal with Title IX related issues. Title IX federally prohibits discrimination by educational institutions based on sex.

Ward said that the results will help the university plan more targeted approaches to preventing instances of sexual assault and harassment.

“The results highlighted that most students, particularly first-year students, will tell a friend if they experience unwanted sexual contact.

This tells us that we need to work to expand bystander intervention programming,” Ward said.

Ward stated that the University Counseling Center is leading Sexual Assault Response Trainings, an initiative that is aimed at helping both students and faculty alike learn to prevent and cope with instances of sexual assault on campus.

Ward also revealed that the university plans to open up Title IX training to a wider set of students. Whereas in the past training seminars have been held for Greek life and athletics teams as a whole, seminars will now be given to each individual chapter as well as individual athletic teams and other student organizations.

“Sixteen percent is consistent with other Higher Educational findings, but it is still too many. Loyola students are not percentage numbers,” Ward said.

Ward believes that prevention needs to be a group effort by the entire Loyola community.

“We all have a role to play not only to help lower how many Loyola students experience unwanted sexual contact but also to help change the underlying culture. Together, we can make this campus safer,” said Ward.