USC students deserve far better sex ed
When I went to a protest after the Sigma Nu assaults last year, I witnessed the president of a fraternity publicly proclaim that he didn’t really know or understand what consent was because he had a girlfriend. My fellow protesters and I were dismayed that someone in such a powerful position could be so ignorant to one of the basic tenets of sexual autonomy: safety and healthy relationships. And yet we were told to hear them out, allow the community to mourn and to hope for a better future.
A year later, rather than enact the reform and guidelines for sexual assault prevention that the Interfraternity Council worked on, most of the fraternities have chosen to disaffiliate from USC. They formed their own new organization — the University Park Interfraternity Council — with far fewer comprehensive safety guidelines, rules and institutional oversight. And a few of these fraternities have been double dipping, associating with both the University and the renegade group — in fact, all four, (and yes, only four) of the remaining fraternities listed on USC’s website as still being a part of the IFC and affiliated with USC are also listed as part of the UPIFC: Delta Tau Delta, Kappa Sigma, Phi Delta Theta and Phi Sigma Kappa.
Despite some castigating official statements from USC, all of the fraternities, regardless of IFC/UPIFC status, have largely been left alone to party without consequences or care. I’ve walked down “The Row” and have seen the Sigma Nu front yard filled with fraternity brothers milling around, their red solo cups littering the ground. It feels like the protests were all for nothing — nothing’s changed. As per usual, a traumatic injustice comes and goes with a lot of talk but without any structural change or action. We have reverted to the status quo, almost as if nothing has happened.
I recently completed my third and final mandatory sexual assault prevention training, “Trojans Act Now.” Despite the fact that the Sigma Nu incident was so recent, there wasn’t much talk about it. There honestly wasn’t much talk at all, at least any conversation that felt real, authentic, honest or insightful. I was disappointed, to say the least, by the random peers and students in my Zoom meeting and their unwillingness to engage, participate and converse beyond the bare minimum.
On the other hand, I understood. I didn’t want to be there either, and I certainly have more important things to do with my time. It’s easy to be apathetic to the horrors of the world as a young college student when all you can focus on is yourself, your future, your education and your social life. The topic itself is difficult and taboo, awkward to talk about and beyond challenging to address — it’s one of society’s most commonplace ills and a tangible example of the trauma of violent misogyny.
The course feels like a reiteration of the same lessons that have been ingrained into us for as long as we can remember: sex is dangerous, men are dangerous, protect yourself, don’t be a victim. Unfortunately, by the time we get to college, many of us are already survivors of sexual violence, and many experience more at USC. According to a 2019 survey, one in three USC students experience sexual assault, higher than the national average of one in four.
The one-size-fits-all approach has never worked. Not for clothes, certainly not for education and especially not for sex education. People from different backgrounds have varying levels of knowledge when it comes to sex education, and the University has a responsibility to its students and the greater community to ensure that every person comes out of USC with a more nuanced, comprehensive and empathetic understanding of sexual violence. With all their words about commitment to betterment, healing or whatever flowery academic language filled with buzzwords they cram into their long emails that go unread by most students, USC has demonstrated an uncaring attitude towards sexual assault. So, it’s unsurprising the majority of the student community follows suit with their collective apathy.
The University — especially in light of last year’s horrific sexual assaults and the blatant disrespect of attempts at reform and regulations of Greek life party culture — needs better sex education now more than ever. We have an entire department of gender and sexuality studies at USC within Dornsife. If undergraduates can be required to take writing, science, math and other gen ed classes in order to graduate, it is completely ostensible and reasonable for USC to a require a gender and sexuality course as well, a topic that learning about comprehensively will serve every student, regardless of their major or field of study.
Sexual violence is a nuanced issue, and we need to treat it as such. USC needs to step up its game, take off the training wheels and show us they will take real action against sexual violence in our community. It’s just a shame I know they won’t, but I’ll give them yet another opportunity to prove my bad faith incorrect.