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Whats never okay?: Students Wonder About the New Posters Around Campus

Print PDF Photo provided by Hanna Frank: Students are noticing the posters around campus that raise awareness about sexual harassment by teachers. Alyssa Cicero, Copy Editor and Nicole Kappelman, Asst. Sports Editor T he walls in the hallways at Lewis are constantly covered in a wallpaper of posters and signage f rom student organizations. Students and staf f may have noticed that lately, some of those signs have been replaced with f ramed sexual harassment posters that are stamped with the phrase, Its never okay. In accordance with the Illinois Department of Human Rights, Lewis and all higher institutions in the state that receive f inancial aid are required to display inf ormation about state laws and policies prohibiting sexual harassment and where complaints may be f iled. While these posters are not new to campus, many have recently been f ramed or laminated and hung in dif f erent areas of the university, which have brought them to the f oref ront of attention f or students and f aculty. T he posters f eature a f emale student sitting on a bench with the words, If I turn him down, will I lose my A? Technically, the requirement [f or the posters] came back in 2009, said Assistant Vice President f or Human Resources and Title IX Coordinator f or the university Graciela Duf our. We did have the basic requirement posters up [although] they werent strategically placed everywhere like they are now.

Duf our went on to say that the previous posters would be taken down every summer, which prompted the newly f ramed ones. T he posters have all been directly taken f rom the Illinois Department of Human Rights. Sexual misconduct and harassment is prohibited under Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972. T his law, according to the U.S. Department of Education, prohibits discrimination based on sex in education programs and activities that receive f ederal f inancial assistance. Sexual harassment and assault are just two types of discrimination prohibited under this law. Title IX is the big umbrella, and sexual misconduct f alls under Title IX, said Director of Residence Lif e and Title IX Deputy Coordinator f or Students Mushtaq Choudhary. Any school that receives f inancial aid has to be [in compliance] with Title IX. Education regarding Title IX and sexual misconduct policies at Lewis begins at SOAR, where f reshmen are required to attend a series of dif f erent presentations to adjust them to college lif e, one of which is about sexual misconduct. Resident Assistants and Resident Lif e Coordinators also go through a series of training in order to educate them on Title IX, sexual harassment and the necessary procedures, according to Choudhary. Lewis of f ers many avenues f or students to be made aware of the sexual harassment policies on campus, and Duf our said the overarching goal, through the posters, presentations and other methods, is to prevent any sort of sexual misconduct f rom happening at the university. T he ultimate goal would be f or us to have that action [of sexual misconduct] be reduced, Duf our said. However, if its still going to happen, we want to know that the af f ected individuals know what their rights are and how to go about reporting the problem to be brought whole. Alyssa is currently a senior at Lewis University majoring in public relations and minoring in marketing. Copy Editor | Click here f or Alyssa's Archives