Times are changing. Or at least that’s what people keep saying. The #MeToo movement sparked a wildfire of feminist awakening and a general sense of societal awareness; it was more than just a political movement to set the precedent of the coming years, but more importantly, it started an open-ended conversation that for years had been shoved under the table. Seemingly out of the ether, hordes of women began to come forward, attempting to brush away the stigma of speaking out against sexual violence.

Don’t get me wrong, this is a great first step towards further equalizing women in our  patriarchal society. Giving survivors of sexual violence a platform to share their stories is a step in the right direction. But this absolute of being a victim of sexual assault is a category that not all women fit into, especially on a college campus where harrassment is a much broader term that encompasses unsolicited sexual remarks and advances. These actions can oftentimes be much less overt than grabbing someone’s chest at a frat party. Oh, and if you’re thinking that sounds like a pretty specific example, that’s because it is. And it happened to me. Two  weekends ago. And I’m still pissed. 

On Chapman’s campus, these instances, the ones that aren’t deemed worthy of a cautionary e-mail, are not just rare occurrences. Talking with friends, sorority sisters, even members of The Panther, it’s clear that most girls at Chapman I talk to have experienced at least one case of harassment on campus that has left them with a lasting sense of discomfort. While not necessarily physically traumatizing, these unwanted actions from others, both outside members of the community and students on campus, still take an emotional toll on the individuals who are subject to them. 

And what’s being done about it? Not much. Any instances of harassment that don’t fall within the guidelines of Public Safety’s Clery Act both in terms of action and geography in relation to the school are passively filed into a crime log in the recesses of Chapman’s website. Any cases that do not fit these legal standards are not e-mailed to the student body, and therefore minimized, allowing the perpetrators to potentially do more harm to other unaware students.

Chapman is an open campus rising in prominence – an unfortunate reality that allows miscellaneous members of the community to step foot onto the grounds and make advances on students. Essentially having an open door to interact with students at their will, if these instances of harassment go untouched, who's to say that harrassment won’t turn into assault? 

The goal of my criticism is not to specifically antagonize any facet of the school’s administration, but rather bring attention to the diminishment of cases of harassment that are met with a blatant sense of apathy in comparison to severe cases of assault – a gross mindset that perpetuates unwanted behavior and guilts victims into feeling like their problems are too meager to be dealt with the level of respect that they rightfully deserve. As a campus, our current notification system is a faulty one. And as a society, our prioritization of issues regardless of emotional tax is faulty too.