The reality of sexual assault at JMU

Last weekend, every JMU student received Madison Alerts reporting three cases of sexual assault.

Let’s let that sink in for a moment: one weekend, two Madison Alerts, and three girls left to feel alone, vulnerable and afraid.

The reports say that one girl was supposedly “forcibly fondled,” with two other young women who lost consciousness and woke up the next morning sexually assaulted- one of which found herself completely undressed.

While I would like to say that this is one isolated incident that we can address and move past, the truth is the problem is widespread and ongoing. Sexual assault isn’t a problem specific to JMU, it’s unfortunately a part of college life, which is a very scary thing.

We’ve all seen reports before, but it seems like our Madison Alerts are going off more and more recently. This is a great thing, because it allows our students to be more conscious and aware of their surroundings, but it is also unnerving due to the fact that it reveals the ugly side of our student body.

We go to a university with an incredibly beautiful campus and fantastic students. I like to think of my school as an amazing, safe place, which most of the time it is. But there are no doubt still people who will jump at the opportunity to take advantage of someone when they are unaware of what is happening to them.

We all make fun of the phrase “tonight’s not the night,” which we were taught to use in standing up for someone about to be taken advantage of, because, well no one would actually use that in their regular vocabulary. But all jokes aside, we should all try to recognize when something isn’t right and help someone in a vulnerable situation. You could be the person that prevents another Madison Alert from streaming our phones, making each and every JMU student’s heart sink.

This is college, people are going to drink and some may even get blackout drunk. Just because a person is intoxicated does not mean they were “asking for it.” I cannot even begin to imagine the fear and horror I would go through to wake up alone and in a strange place, with no knowledge of what had happened to me. No one should have to go through that simply because they had a little too much to drink.

That being said there are still important ways of avoiding this terrible situation. First, if you plan on drinking at a party always stick with friends and make sure that there is someone there who will be able to take care of you. I mean everyone needs a babysitter sometimes, right? Along with that, know your limits.  Getting drunk is one thing, but totally blacking out can lead to a very dangerous situation, so be careful not to go past what you know you can handle.  Lastly, watch your drink closely, because you never know when someone is lurking around waiting to slip something in. I’ve heard of too many cases this year of people who have been roofied at a party. Luckily the students I know of are all OK, but that is a situation that could have been turned from bad to disastrous in the blink of an eye.

It would be easy to look at these three incidents and scoot them under the rug, hoping to keep up the pristine façade of the JMU student body. It would be easy to say, “That could never happen to me,” and ignore the possibility of this entering any of our perfect spheres of existence. But this is not a simple matter in any respect, because this is not just one weekend, it is one out of hundreds of weekends and hundreds of untold stories.

We are all fellow dukes, a united student body, and a family. Watch out for yourself and the well being of your peers, because when one of us gets hurt, we all feel the effect.

Stay safe, dukes.