Recent events involving former Geneseo students spark discussion about sexual assault

According to Livingston County News, former SUNY Geneseo student Philip Pang has been convicted of one count of criminal sex act in the first degree and two counts of sexual abuse in the first degree. These charges stem from a sexual assault he committed in Putnam Hall in 2014. 

This conviction sparks questions about how people can protect themselves and their friends and prevent sexual assault on Geneseo’s campus. 

“The Title IX office is here to respond to any allegations of sexual harassment,” Marcus Foster, Title IX Coordinator, said. “Sexual harassment is a broad term that covers quite a few different behaviors, most notably sexual assault, harassing behavior, dating or domestic violence and stalking.”

According to Foster, any student who files a complaint with the Title IX office has the right to begin the student conduct process if they choose to do so. “If you've experienced any one of those behaviors, you have rights. The Title IX office is here to explain those rights to you, but also to let you know of the support services that are available to you,” Foster said. 

“If a crime has occurred, university police would investigate. If this is something that happens off campus, village police would investigate that if we are talking about physical or sexual violence,” Foster said. 

One resource available to students is the student conduct system. According to Foster, the student conduct system involves a formal investigation and the meeting of a formal conduct board to determine if SUNY Geneseo conduct policy was violated. 

“On campus we have mental health counseling services. Whether that is through Lauderdale, or through our wonderful partnership with RESTORES Sexual Assault Services,” Foster said. “Students can also work with the college to prevent having contact with alleged abusers in residence halls, class, or other places and events around campus.” 

“We also have measures such as a no contact order, which prohibits communication and any kind of interactions between the parties. We also have academic accommodations as well as room reassignments where we've worked with different departments to ensure that we are looking at the incident in its totality to ensure that a person is protected.”

The SUNY Geneseo Title IX Office also does work to prevent sexual and dating violence incidences. “We've kicked off our orientation bringing with a one-person act. His name is Tim Collins. He offered a 75-minute session to our incoming class, talking about unhealthy relationships and the power of bystander intervention,” Foster said. 

The prevention efforts during orientation help educate incoming students on some of the different situations involving sexual violence that college students are sometimes confronted with, and how to respond to those situations. 

The Tittle IX Office has also started Title IX Tuesdays, an initiative that engages in dialogue with students about issues related to sexual violence, domestic violence, dating violence and stalking. 

“Over the last 10 weeks we've had a number of sessions looking at the nuances of dating violence and sexual assault,” Foster said. “We have been in different residence halls every Tuesday night at six o'clock, providing programming and from the feedback that we received and from the turnout that we've had, they've been overwhelmingly positive response has been overwhelmingly positive and we're really happy to have had this opportunity so far.”

Students can take an active role in their safety and the safety of their friends in multiple ways. Ultimately, it comes down to choosing to intervene when a situation seems dangerous or suspicious. 

“We often say that doing nothing can never be the answer,” Foster said. “No matter who you are, no matter your age, your class year, your position, the position that you may hold on an athletic team or a club or an organization there is something that you can do to intervene in a situation and prevent it from escalating.”

Foster says to remember the three D’s, direct, delegate and distract. “If you are someone who is comfortable intervening and interjecting yourself directly, go ahead and do that. If you are someone who may be more introverted or conflict averse and might not necessarily be the person to interject on their own, you can always delegate to someone who is more comfortable. For example, an RA.” 

“Lastly we have the distract, asking them to walk outside and get some air with you, or asking if you could have a drink of water with them, or take a picture if you see that behaviors are escalating and there is a possibility of problematic behavior occurring.”   

Foster continued, “No matter who you are, there's always something that you can do to just check in and make sure that the first people you care about are safe, both physically and emotionally.”