Students demand improved prevention

We surveyed students on ASU’s Sexual & Relationship Violence Prevention program. Feedback collected 2021-2022. 

• 90% of students feel ASU’s prevention program is ineffective
• 57% remember training their first year at ASU
• 9% trained on professor-student relationship abuse

Protest demanding more resources for sexual assault survivors

Arizona Republic — About 50 people gathered Thursday at Arizona State University’s Tempe campus to demand that the university provide more professional staff and resources for victims of sexual abuse.

Sexual assault survivors and student allies spoke at the ASU rally saying the resources the university currently offers to prevent sexual abuse on campus and support victims are not enough.

Student groups protest for better sexual assault services from ASU

State Press — Marching to the Fulton Center, student protesters chanted ‘sexual assault has got to go,’ and demanded more and better resources.

While marching through campus, protesters chanted “ASU needs to know, sexual assault has got to go” and “CAARE Center now.” Students spoke in front of Old Main about their experience with sexual assault at ASU and the subsequent reporting processes with ASU services and administration.

2021 Accomplishments

Thank you, Alayna, Leah and all #MeTooASU survivors; all organizations endorsing CAARE; and all students, staff and community members helping us fight ASU Rape Culture! We couldn’t have accomplished all we have this year without all of you!

1. Victim Advocates are no longer part of ASU PD
2. Shared 60+ #MeTooASU stories
3. Partnered with nonprofit on support group
4. Kept ASU rape culture in local & national news
5. Exposed Clery Act violations & false PR
6. Testified at White House Title IX hearing
7. 70 organizations endorsed CAARE
8. Pushed for CAARE despite ASU hostility
9. Helped Delta Sigma Pi raise $650 for EVC AZ
10. Alayna was reimbursed 1 semester’s housing

President Crow denies #MeTooASU problems

Open letter to President Crow re: October 27 forum:

President Crow,

When asked how Arizona State University plans to support sexual assault victims given recent high profile cases, you told students: “There’s certainly not an issue with response. There’s an issue with reporting sometimes. People are very uncomfortable about reporting.”

It’s clear you’re disconnected from realities students face on campus. There are many issues with ASU’s response to sexual violence:

1. Students are forced to share classrooms and dorm buildings with their rapists. 
2. ASU victim advocates ignore student phone calls and discourage reporting. 
3. ASU police and investigators are insensitive and blame victims for being abused.
4. ASU counselors tell victims not to open up about sexual trauma.
5. ASU’s sexual assault prevention program is run primarily by students. The White House Task Force to Protect Students from Sexual Assault advised against relying on student trainers because studies show professional staff are more effective.
6. ASU’s Sexual & Relationship Violence Prevention program does not adequately train students/staff on the professor/student relationship policy, which protects students from sexual abuse and coercion.
7. ASU Police, Student Rights & Responsibilities and University Rights & Responsibilities rarely hold students and professors accused of sexual harassment and sexual assault accountable.
8. ASU has only two victim advocates to serve 134,500 students on multiple campuses and one position is vacant. Students don’t trust the current victim advocate because she used to work for ASU Police.
9. Moving the victim advocates out of the police department made them more accessible, but housing them within ASU Counseling creates a barrier to access because, as Director of ASU Counseling Aaron Krasnow acknowledged, there is a stigma around accessing campus mental health services.
10. The new ASU Counseling Victim Services advocates have never been announced to the entire ASU community, and are poorly advertised on ASU websites.

DOE denies ASU Clery violation “walk back”

The Department of Education confirmed yesterday they did NOT “walk back” Clery violation findings in Alayna’s case. On June 24, 2021 the Arizona Republic reported that according to Arizona State University, the Department of Education “walked back” findings ASU violated the Clery Act by requiring Alayna to sign a non-disclosure agreement. On June 25, 2021 the Arizona Republic reported on a letter to the DOE from ASU disputing the DOE’s findings of ASU in violation of the Clery Act. Neither article included DOE verification of ASU’s claims. On June 29, 2021 the DOE informed Alayna that no findings against ASU have been reversed: 

“We, too, had heard those rumors that mentioned the ASU spokesperson’s quote about ‘walking back’ some of the noted violations. This was not the case. Furthermore, the University committed that it would not require non-disclosure agreements.”

Department of Education, 6/29/2021

This is not the first time ASU has misrepresented facts to the press — in 2019 the Arizona Republic reported that sex offender Jeffrey Epstein donated only $250,000 to an ASU program; a month later the Arizona Mirror revealed that ASU actually received more than $2 million from Epstein. 

DOE finds ASU violated Clery Act

Update: “ASU was provided with an extension to make all of the necessary changes to internal policies to meet the requirements of the Clery Act. The new due date is June 25, 2021. Additionally, it is possible that the 2020 ASR will not need any alternations.” – DOE, 6/21/21

The Department of Education recently found Arizona State University violated the Clery Act in handling Alayna’s case:

1. ASU unlawfully required Alayna to sign a gag order, which the Education Department has long prohibited in sexual assault cases.
2. ASU failed to provide Alayna clear rationale of the investigation outcome.
3. ASU failed to inform Alayna of her right to appeal ASU’s determination on her case.

Alayna’s Open Letter to ASU

“I am writing on behalf of myself as well as all other Arizona State University rape victims and students, with a deep concern regarding lack of action taken by administrators since my videos and Sun Devils Against Sexual Assault exposed a pattern of negligence and mistreatment of ASU students who report rape and sexual harassment — sparking the outrage of thousands of people.

“I would like to start by saying I was greatly disappointed that President Michael Crow could not attend the Zoom meeting January 8, 2021 — “could not attend,” as in get out his bed (or off his high horse) and take two steps to his laptop and listen to his students demands while they pay him tens of thousands of dollars in tuition and he can’t even spare an hour to listen to them. Due to President Crow’s lack of participation in this meeting, I will happily fill him in on what he missed.

ASU victims of sexual assault tell their stories as tensions rise

Downtown Devil — Over the past few weeks, Arizona State University has come under scrutiny for unresolved issues involving sexual violence on campus.

These issues came to light when an ASU student publicly released information about ASU and the ASU Police Department silencing her when she reported her rape in February of 2020.

The student’s bravery to speak publicly on her experience has led other ASU students who are survivors of sexual violence to speak out.

ASU harasses rape victim suffering from COVID-19

When an ASU undergraduate reported being sexually assaulted on campus in February, ASU police and administrators gaslit and silenced her, and refused to stop harassing her when she requested they communicate through her lawyer when the student was recovering from COVID-19.

Sign Alayna’s petition