Sexual Assault: The Crisis That Blindsided Higher Education

Abstract

This paper begins by examining the history of university oversight of sexual assault cases and why sexual assault has become such a problem on college and university campuses. Next the paper will examine existing laws that govern how colleges handle sexual assault cases. Subsequently, this article will discuss the loopholes in existing laws that have allowed institutions of higher learning to not only ignore the problem of sexual assault, but also underreport incidents of sexual assault. Current proposed legislation and administrative actions will be explored that attempt to close these loopholes forcing universities to answer for their failure to handle sexual assault cases properly and revamp their existing policies to better protect victims of sexual assault. Finally, the authors provide potential solutions for what is likely the next big crisis in higher education.