Mandatory Reporting Policy Petition- PLEASE ONLY SIGN IF YOU ARE AFFILIATED WITH KNOX (either student, alum, or faculty/staff)

I especially want to express my support the third, fourth and sixth bullet points.

Agree and signing. This will I'm assuming exempt RA's from mandatory reporting. On the other hand it should be clear that this doesn't obligate RA's to not report and I think that's better but it should be known.

seriously?

Class of 2013

Class of 2014

Class of 2014

Class of 2012

Until Knox College actually finds rapists "guilty" and punishes them, forcing a victim to go through Knox's Title IX Grievance Process is wrong and only re-traumatizes the victim. Survivors don't need to be raped against by the process unless they are 100% ready to come forward on their own.

Former student.

I support this petition.

I completely understand mandatory reporting as a requirement for teachers in high schools or junior highs, but a vast majority of college students are legally adults and although they should know their options, they are old enough to decide what to do with those options.

I feel that the intent of the mandate was good, but too extreme. A survivor deserves the right to decide how they wish to move forward in their life.

As someone who was raped at Knox and who found Knox to be a pretty hostile place to be a survivor of violence and who did not report the assault to Knox or outside authorities because of that hostility, I can say with 100% certainty that this rule would not have made me feel safer and would not have helped my recovery. For me, the aftermath of being a rape survivor in the kind of environment Knox is (was? this was not very long ago, but I do hope some things have improved)--particularly the way my friends who knew and the Knox sexual assault counselor treated me, my situation, and the rapist--was actually way worse than the acute experience of the rape itself. Mandatory reporting would have made this much worse for me personally and would have made me more isolated and even less supported.

I haven't had any traumatic experiences myself, but I know people who have. For them, putting the event(s) behind them was the most important thing they could do for themselves to achieve peace. Forcing people to report, especially if they don't want to, is just another form of victim-blaming/shaming that implies that there is something wrong with a person who doesn't report. As the petition description says, people who report are forcing either themselves or the victim to relive the traumatic experience again and again. If a person wants to report, it should be their choice to do so. It should not be forced upon them.

Creating an environment of trust between faculty and students is of the utmost importance to changing the culture on campus in regards to sexual violence. Campus should be a safe space. There are valid reasons for mandated reporting but at the end of the day college students are adults and should choose how they deal with their experiences and the college should encourage victim-centered healing, and mandated reporting does not support that.

Knox '13

The mandatory reporting policy position reveals the administration has their priorities mixed up: covering the college's ass instead of actually supporting survivors and preventing sexual assault

A woman's safety shouldn't be less important than a man's education.

I, a 2012 graduate, support the demands. I believe they are essential to making Knox a safer space for all folks.

Protect the victims, not the college