We, the members of the AAUP of Stanford University, care deeply about the students’ general wellbeing and safety. Students are speaking out on the issue of sexual assault on campus. By virtue of our professional role as educators, we support their right to speak out, we share their concerns, and we want their concerns to be heard by university administrators. As faculty we also recognize that sexual violence is not only a student problem but one that involves and affects the whole university.
Sexual violence remains a critical issue on college campuses today, including at Stanford. Both teaching and learning depend on an environment that is safe and free from threats of coercion, violence, and intimidation. We are concerned by recent cuts to programs that address sexual harassment and violence. Recently, highly useful programming addressing sexual harassment and violence has been removed or diminished at the university. Stanford should do more than listen; it should engage with all stakeholders to find meaningful and durable solutions to this problem in a timely manner. We anticipate a proposal from the administration with concrete action steps.