Dive Brief:
- Key details of University of Virginia President Teresa A. Sullivan's plan for a safer campus were revealed Monday.
- Included in the plan: The creation of the Ad Hoc Group on University Climate and Culture, which will develop policies, practices, and organizational structure in addition to identifying what's needed to ensure student safety, as well as a new administrative task force that will follow through on the group's recommendations.
- The efforts to improve student safety follow a recent article published in Rolling Stone that detailed an alleged gang rape at a campus fraternity house, as well as the disappearance and murder of student Hannah Graham.
Dive Insight:
The details of the Rolling Stone story have since been called into question due to gaps in its reporting, but it's commendable that Sullivan and UVA are continuing full-force with efforts to create a safer campus that is also more sensitive to survivors of sexual assault. The university is also cooperating with a police investigation of the incident alleged in the Rolling Stone article, as well as a Virginia Attorney General's Office review of its handling of sexual assault.
On Friday, Sullivan headed the Ad Hoc Group on University Climate and Culture's first meeting, and the group is set to focus on issues ranging from student behavior, Greek life, and drug and alcohol use to bystander training, campus security, and survivor support. Short-term initiatives planned or currently in place include a climate survey to take place in spring, an "ambassador" program that will provide campus safety escorts, expanded bystander training and counseling services, improvements to campus lighting and security cameras, and a new police substation and additional patrols.