2023.04.19

The Daily Eastern News

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The Daily Eastern News is produced by the students of Eastern Illinois University. It is published weekly on Wednesday, in Virden, Ill., during fall and spring semesters and online during the summer term except during university vacations or examinations. One copy per week is free to students and faculty. Additional copies can be obtained for 50 cents each in the Student Publications Office in Buzzard Hall.

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UPD gives stats on sexual assault

By Cam’ron Hardy News Editor | @DEN_News

Statistics pertaining to Eastern’s sexual assault awareness cases allows people to help raise awareness pertaining to sexual violence.

Being aware of the area surrounding someone is one of several ways to prevent sexual assaults or sexual attacks.

Women are more likely to be experience sexual violence than men.

According to icasa.org, one in three women in the United States experience some sort of sexual assault violence in their life, and one in six men are more likely to experience the same types of attacks.

According to the national sexual assault coalition graphic, 20 percent of female students will experience sexual violence while in college, while only six percent of males will experience sexual violence.

The graphic also provided solutions and resources to prevent the acts.

One of the coalitions that are able to assist college campuses is developing and implementing prevention programs. A program can allow people to be informed on the subject and understand what to do in certain situations.

Another solution is to train students, faculty, administrators and faculty on the subject.

Also according to icasa.org, 23 million women in the U.S. have been victim of completed rape of attempted rape at some point. With that, 31% of teenage females have been victims of sexual assault or violence. Additionally, 77% of rape victims were known to their attackers.

According to rainn.org, 463,634 people (age 12 or older) are victims of rape and sexual assault charges in the U.S.

In 2021, according to a Coles County Uniform Crime Reporting Agencies’ Index Crime Offenses statistic, there were

two confirmed rape cases at Eastern Illinois University.

University Police Department Chief Marisol Gamboa gave recommendations as to what should be done to prevent being attacked.

Gamboa said being aware of the one’s surroundings, on and off-campus should be a focus along with locking up residences and vehicles, including windows.

“Just be aware you’re aware of your surroundings,” Gamboa said. “Who’s around you, who’s been following you, or if you feel uneasy about a certain person, try to get as far away from them as possible.

Gamboa said having good lighting on the exterior or homes is important as well, and people should walk in well-lit areas.

Gamboa said to use the blue phones located across campus. The blue phones contact the police and lets them know where to go and assist someone.

Gamboa also teaches women’s self-defense classes and recommends people take a class on being safe, male or female.

Resources are available to assist those in need on campus including the counseling clinic or the Sexual Assault Counseling and Informative Service, SACIS.

With people not having roommates, they

may have to go out by themselves at night, and while that may be a possibility, Gamboa urges those to inform people on where they are going.

Gamboa also said parking close to the entrance of a building is beneficial in avoiding something happening and carrying a flashlight. She also said not to be distracted while out.

“Don’t be distracted on your phone while you’re walking to your apartment or vehicle because just so many things like [attacks] happen while you’re focused on your phone instead of being aware of what’s around you,” Gamboa said.

She also suggests not wearing headphones or using a transparency mode on certain headphones which allows users to hear what is going on around them while still listening to music.

Having certain products can help prevent attacks from happening. A common item on college campuses are pepper sprays that fit on key rings.

For more information contact mvgamboa@eiu.edu or call 1-800-656-4673 (HOPE).

Cam’ron Hardy can be reached at 5812812 or at dennewsdesk@gmail.com.

Attention postmaster: Send address changes to: The Daily Eastern News 1802 Buzzard Hall

FRONT PAGE COVER BY MADELYN KIDD AND ROB LE CATES

FILE PHOTO | THE DAILY EASTERN NEWS

Eastern Illinois University Police Chief Marisol Gamboa said one way to stay safe when walking alone at night is to stay in well lit areas when people can see you.

Students speak out on experiences

By Madelyn Kidd Editor-in-Chief | @Madelyn__K

Editor’s Note: This article includes mentions of sexual assault and harassment with statistics and specific details from others’ experiences.

Eastern students anonymously broke the silence on their stories of their sexual assault and harassment experiences to help spread awareness during Sexual Assault Awareness and Prevention Month.

Every 68 seconds, an American is sexually assaulted. Every nine minutes that victim is a child. However, only 25 out of 1,000 attackers face imprisonment, according to the Rape, Abuse, & Incest National Network, RAINN.

Sexual assault and harassment is a issue organizations like RAINN, or more locally, Sexual Assault Counseling and Informational Services, SACIS, try to combat with awareness and prevention.

According to RAINN, sexual assault and harassment on campus or involving traditional college-age adults is higher then other adult age ranges nationally.

Thirteen percent of all graduate and undergraduate students experience sexual assault. Within undergraduate students, 26.4% of women and 6.8% of men experience sexual assault while 9.7% of women and 2.5% of men who are graduate or professional students also experience assault during their time as a student.

Along with sexual assault, 5.8% of students experience stalking cases since they began college, according to RAINN.

With college-age adults who are not in college, the risk is still high, but higher for men

18 to 24-year-old women who are not in college are approximately 20 percent less likely to be sexually assaulted then female college students. However, 18 to 24-yearold men are around 78 percent more likely to be sexually assaulted compared to male college students, according to RAINN.

Some members of the Eastern community were assaulted on campus or off campus.

A senior vocal performance major said they have experienced both sexual assault and harassment on campus.

“My freshman year at EIU, I was groomed, emotionally abused, mentally abused, sexually assaulted and sexually harassed by an older member of the campus ministry I was attending,” they said.

The vocal performance major said the person who assaulted them evaded meeting with Student Accountability and the Coles County state’s attorney’s office never filed charges against him.

They recommended for Student Accountability to in some way not allow those accused to put off meeting until after the accused graduated.

A senior neuroscience major said she was assaulted in Thomas Hall her freshman year.

She said when she reported the assault, she was not taken seriously.

“I was told that because I was in a relationship with the person, it should have been consensual,” she said. “He was made an RA on campus, and I only got a no contact order when I found out he was stalking me”

The neuroscience student also said her experience with Student Accountability was a negative one.

“Student Accountability never followed

“ ... I didn’t even realize the weight of the scenario until months and months later. Almost 4 years later, I am still dealing with the ramifications. I have panic attacks when I see people who look like him or drive his car. I have an extreme fear and distrust of men. It also impacts my current, long term relationship when I am having bad days. Intimacy is hard now. ”

up with me because housing told them the situation had been resolved when it wasn’t,” she said. “Student accountability should reach out to the survivor of these situations when a report is made, regardless of if another department says it has been dealt with. The goal should be helping survivors process this trauma and feel safe on campus.”

A senior early education/special education major said she had been sexually assaulted before and has experienced being touched, groped, grabbed and kissed without her consent. She said the experiences had occurred while she was an Eastern student, but not on Eastern’s campus.

Eight out of 10 sexual assault victims knew their attacker with 39 percent of attackers being an acquaintance and 33 percent are a current or former spouse, boyfriend or girlfriend, according to RAINN.

A sophomore political science major shared her experiences of sexual assault and harassment with an ex-boyfriend when she was younger.

“I had an ex-boyfriend who would coerce me to do anything sexual,” she said. “Anytime I said no to him he would try and convince me otherwise. I was scared of him because I was only 15/16 and he was 17/18, and he was my first boyfriend. And he said he loved me.”

The political science major described a specific instance where her ex-boyfriend assaulted her while she was asleep.

“He constantly talked about how deep a sleeper I was and how I would never wake up at night,” she said. “Only one night for me to wake up to him putting his hand down my pants. I think he’d done it before, but that was the only time I woke up to it.”

A junior nursing major said she has also been assaulted and harassed by an ex-boyfriend before when she was in high school.

“I was sexually assaulted in high -

shocked him.

“I’ve had my butt grabbed by two girls in the past, and it was in front of my sister, I felt really shocked by it,” he said.

A senior special education major said she experienced both sexual assault and harassment. She said she was assaulted in her dorm bed her sophomore year.

“[It] was meant to be just hanging out but instead he wanted something I wasn’t wanting to give and took anyway in my dorm on my bed sophomore year,” she said. “Because of that I have PTSD and attempted suicide because I hated myself for it.”

She advised for Eastern to have faculty or administration talk about sexual assault prevention and what to do if it happens since she has never had anyone talk on that.

A senior psychology major said they never reported their sexual assault because they were older then the assaulter, and the assaulter threatened to claim statutory rape against them.

“I was assaulted when I was 17 by someone who was 16, and so I couldn’t report because they threatened to try to turn it on me for ‘statutory rape’ despite me being the one who was assaulted,” they said. They had previous and following sexual assault and harassment experiences as well.

- Junior nursing major

school by an ex-boyfriend,” she said. “We were trying to fix things so I went to spend the night with him. I woke up in the middle of the night to his hand in my underwear, and I told him to stop. I went back to sleep and woke up again to the same thing. I ended up staying, and I didn’t even realize the weight of the scenario until months and months later. Almost 4 years later, I am still dealing with the ramifications. I have panic attacks when I see people who look like him or drive his car. I have an extreme fear and distrust of men. It also impacts my current, long term relationship when I am having bad days. Intimacy is hard now.”

The nursing student said people should always believe the victim.

“Always believe the victim, even if you have your doubts,” she said. “It’s better to believe the victim than not.”

She further said significant others can assault individuals too.

“You can be sexually abused and assaulted by your significant other,” she said. “They do not own your body, and they are not entitled to it.”

A senior English major faced abuse and was sexually assaulted by her boyfriend during her time at Eastern.

She said others “believed I was lying even with proof of bruises all over [my] body.”

The English student said sexual assault and harassment can happen to anyone not just women.

“I feel like there’s a huge ignorance of male sexual assault victims, and they need assistance too,” she said.

One in 33 men have been sexually assaulted according to RAINN. The National Sexual Violence Resource Center says around 81 percent of women and 43 percent of men experience sexual harassment or assault.

A sophomore public health major said he has been sexually harassed before, which

“When I was 15-18, I was targeted, groomed and harassed by men constantly online,” they said. “From 18-20, I worked as a cook at a bar and was physically harassed and assaulted by men who would grab at me and make comments on doing things to me sexually. A lot of these men had kids my age that I went to school with. I reported it to multiple people (including my uncle who was the owner of the bar) and was brushed off. ‘You should get used to it.’ ‘It comes with the territory.’ ‘It could be worse.’ These are just some of the comments that I experienced.”

The psychology student went on to list the different everyday habits they have changed following their assault and harassment experiences.

“When I used to be able to walk, I never walked alone at night,” they said. “If I did, I had my keys in my fingers like brass knuckles and called a friend to be on the phone with me until I got to a location. I check my car before I enter it so people aren’t there. I triple check locks on doors. Previously when I lived in [my old apartment in Yorkshire Hall], the lock on our door was finicky and would unlock if you jiggled it enough, and I was constantly stressed about it. I can’t have anyone touch my neck without explicit permission and circumstances. I can’t have people sneak up on me without risking an anxiety attack. As a disabled person, I especially feel vulnerable at all times as I’m an ‘easy target.’ I keep my ice pick on my cane at all times of year in case I were to be attacked. I could write a paper on habits that have changed due to my experiences.”

They said people should give victims the benefit of the doubt.

“It’s hard as ---- to talk to people about it and to come forward,” they said. “When people do come forward, they are scrutinized and blamed which solidifies the idea that they aren’t able to speak up. From people who have told me their experiences, nothing is done after a long exhausting process.”

Madelyn Kidd can be reached at 5812812 or at DENeic@gmail.com.

EDITORIAL

Have more education on what happens after sexual assaults

A sexual assault is an extremely difficult thing for anyone to experience, or to know someone close to you who has experienced this. The next steps can be difficult, but the problem is, not everyone knows what the next steps are.

Where do survivors go? Who can I report this to? What do I do if I know someone who has been assaulted?

For a lot of people, these questions go unanswered and they are left to guess or sometimes not doing anything because it is extremely overwhelming. Some people do not even know what happened to them until they later talk to someone.

We at The News are calling for more education surrounding the subject. Not just awareness, education. Education on the next steps, who to contact, what you can do after a certain time, and how to support the ones you care about.

There are many agencies like the EIU Health and Human and SACIS (Sexual Assault Counseling and Information Services) that provide information and awareness. But does the general public know about these? To one person it may seem obvious that these services are around, but how do we know for sure?

Eastern has had events like this month’s sexual assault awareness campaign. This was hosted by the Health Education Resource Center (HERC). But these events were all optional. None were mandatory to attend.

There are mandatory trainings each student needs to complete upon enrolling as a student at Eastern during their first semester. But there are plenty of people who click through and just guess on the questions not really learning much.

What if there was a live training that encompassed, in depth what to do? Each step gone over and discussed so that everyone who has questions can ask them. You cannot really ask a pre-recorded training video questions, how to interpret emotions, or how to inform your friend that they have been assault without realizing it.

As a society, we need to be more aware of what to do when addressing these situations. There can devastating consequences if one misses a step and it can even ruin an investigation in some circumstances. So how do we avoid this and move forward?

There needs to be a universal education that is well informed and give modern examples and situations. This needs to be for everyone, not just college students, even though a lot of sexual violence happens on college campuses.

What else can be done by just educating your -

self? A lot.

You can educate others with the correct information and encourage others to learn about proper practices and awareness in general. A lot can be changed when people are educated and spread proper and fact-checked information.

We at The News stand with and support survivors of all types of sexual violence and encourage others to educate themselves, spread awareness, and prevent this violence in your communities and general surroundings. If you see something, speak up.

Editorial Board

Madelyn Kidd

Ellen Dooley

Kate Stevens Cam’ron Hardy

Autumn Schulz

Rob Le Cates

GRAPHIC BY ROB LE CATES

My story: Not all men, but enough

Senior EIU student

I was only 13. During the summer going into my eighth-grade year, and throughout my eighth-grade year, I was sexually assaulted. He was one of my neighbors, a boy about my age. We were friends for a while, until he started to do things that made me uncomfortable when we’d hang out. We would be hanging out in his room in the basement, and every so often he would touch my thighs or my chest, though I had just begun to develop breasts and there was nothing much there for him to grab. At first, it was just little touches here and there, until it was more. He would try to put his hands in my pants or under my shirt, even if I told him I was uncomfortable. Eventually, it would become more forced, rather than just trying to “catch a feel” every now and then. I would tell him that I didn’t like it, was uncomfortable, or would just simply say “[his name], stop”, but none of it would. The more I declined, the more he seemed to want it. It would feel like every day he was trying more or trying something new.

He was one of the few friends I had in my

Quote of the Week:

neighborhood at the time, and I was friends with his sister so we would see each other all the time. Not once did I give him the implication that I wanted him to touch me, but he did it anyways, and he was bigger than I, so it was hard to get him to stop.

The worst was when he fully forced himself on me, in a house that was under construction in our neighborhood that him, his sister and I decided to explore. His sister went home to grab some drinks and snacks, and that’s when he started to force himself on me in what’s now the garage of our neighbor’s home. He wouldn’t let me speak, and he was stronger than me so I couldn’t get away. He assaulted me for about 30 minutes, the whole time while I was begging him to stop. While it was happening, I didn’t really process what it truly was, but I knew something felt wrong. At first, I didn’t realize I had been sexually assaulted, and it would take me a few years to figure out that’s what it was.

Afterwards, I stopped hanging out with them. His sister would always ask me to come over and hangout, but I always made excuses to get out of it. He never really questioned it, except for if him and his sister were together and she’d ask. Again, I’d make excuses and act like I couldn’t. He seemed to know the answer, and the

way he would look at me afterwards would make my stomach hurt. He never once apologized or tried to ask me, for himself, why I no longer would hang out with them. As we got older, he seemed to laugh off anything that someone would accuse him of doing to his past girlfriends. People knew he wasn’t a good guy, but nobody would come forward about what he was doing. Though I don’t know if he did this to others, I can only assume that 13-year-old me wasn’t the only person it happened to.

Eventually, his family moved him away, which allowed me to finally have a sigh of relief that I don’t have to worry about him anymore. Though he was gone, the experience never will be. As I got older, I started to realize that I’m actually attracted to women. While going through the process of figuring out my sexuality, I questioned if I only liked women because of what he did to me. It made the process of finding myself even harder, because I convinced myself that I didn’t like women, I just didn’t like men because of what I had gone through. It took me until

About two or three years ago to fully process that I do like women, but it took me years to fully process my true feelings. What he did to me wasn’t the reason that I’m gay, but for years I thought that lik-

ing women was a product of being sexually harassed by him for over a year. I was 13 years old when he decided that my body was his to do what he pleases with, and even to this day I struggle with intimacy because of what he did to me. I am now in a very healthy, happy, and respectful relationship with someone who I love very much, but it’s now 10 years later, and what he did to me still affects me to this day. I can’t even look at the house it happened in, even though it’s about 100 yards from mine.

He didn’t take “no” for an answer, he didn’t stop when I told him I felt uncomfortable or didn’t like it, and he took something from me that I’ll never be able to get back. I was, and still am, traumatized by what he did to me and will be for the rest of my life. While I hold my keys out to protect myself walking to my car every night, have multiple trusted people on speed dial, know self-defense, watch everyone everywhere I go and live in fear of if it’ll happen again, he gets to continue living his life with no remorse, no punishment, and no cares for what he did to me.

Now that my story is out, and I have finally been able to share my story after all these years, I leave you with this: “Not all men, but enough”.

" There remains what seems like an impenetrable wall of silence around violence, and we must play a role in breaking this silence. "

-Reese

I am not weak

I have never publicly told anyone this, but reporting on other students sharing their experiences on sexual assault and harassment made me want to do the same.

When I was 18-years-old at my first job, my now ex repeatedly sexually harassed me. Personally, I spent months in denial of labeling what it was. I thought by not labeling it as sexual harassment it would not be true. In a way, it really just delayed the realization process.

At the time, it was my first year working at a student-run newspaper at Lake Land College and while there I met a guy who I found attractive. For about a week and a half we pursued a flirtationship, in which various instances occurred that I was very uncomfortable with. However, I didn’t know how to react in those situations. I was a late bloomer in the relationship world. I didn’t first have my first relationship until I was 17. This flirtationship I was pursuing was only my second, and he was several years older. It started with just kissing but that was when we were alone, and then because we both worked at the same place we were around our coworkers and bosses a lot.

It was not until he started touching me in ways I didn’t want in front of our coworkers and bosses that I first experienced sexual harassment. He grabbed my butt in front of our boss when our boss wasn’t paying attention. When I whipped around and confronted him about it he played it off as if he was trying to put a pencil in my

back pocket. That did not make any sense because it wasn’t my pencil, and there was no reason for him to do that.

Suddenly, I didn’t know how to trust him, and I didn’t know how to handle the situation anymore. Eventually some of my friends helped make sure I felt comfortable without fully knowing what happened, and they hung out with us to keep us from being alone together.

Because I was being weird he got really angry. We were alone again, and I was sitting on the floor. My ex was a very tall and large man but he was very angry and he just started yelling at me asking what was going on, why wasn’t anyone saying anything to him, etc. I was just trying to play it off so I didn’t have to say anything to him. Thankfully my friend got out of class and came back for me and pretended like we had plans to go somewhere else.

It was then I knew I needed to get away from him and with us being co-workers I couldn’t get very far, but I did the best that I could. However, for months the denial set in. I thought that because we were flirting and we were kissing that meant I couldn’t have been sexually harassed by him because I liked him.

However, I remember crying in a restaurant with my friend when I for the first time told someone what really happened. That was the moment I knew that I couldn’t deny it anymore. It sucked having to go through those feelings to relive how I felt in the moment that he grabbed me without my consent but I moved on with my life.

Then I came to Eastern and at a welcome weekend event I saw him and realized he was here too. I left early and had a panic attack in my car before going home.

I didn’t know what to do with this information so I went on with the beginning of my experience at Eastern. That was until another co-worker on The Daily Eastern News staff got angry at a computer and he was a tall and large man, and it wasn’t until that moment that I realized when my ex verbally attacked me trying to figure out what was going on that it left damage. It left trauma.

Once again I was having a panic attack over my ex and the parts of him that he left with me that I can’t escape.

Every once in a while I see him on this campus and while I don’t panic as much as I did the first time I still feel fear. I still

want more than anything to run away and pretend like he isn’t here.

The upsetting thing is I don’t think he even knows how he hurt me and how it still affects me to this day because that’s the world we live in. Where men aren’t taught properly how to keep their hands to themselves, how to take responsibility for things they do wrong and more that leads us into situations like this.

The most important takeaway I have recently have tried to come to terms with my experience is that just because I have this trauma or these upsetting memories does not make me weak. And while it took some time and was not instant it did make me stronger.

I’m not over what happened and I don’t know if or when I will ever be, but I do know I have amazing friends and family who are on my side and support me and love me and at the end of the day that’s more than I could ask for.

For anyone else who reads my story or the other stories within this edition for Sexual Assault Awareness Month please know you are not weak, it’s not your fault and you can forgive yourself. Because I know that even if logic tells you it’s not your fault you still blame yourself, so now I’m telling you it’s time to learn to forgive yourself.

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR

Madelyn Kidd

Witherspoon

SACIS provides resources for sexual assault victims

By Adriana Hernandez-Santana Features Junior Editor | @DEN_news

The Sexual Assault Counseling and Information Service or SACIS is an organization that was designed for individuals who are struggling with any type of sexual assault to stay safe, protected and get help.

According to plannedparenthood.com, sexual assault and sexual abuse both can tie into one another. It is the concept of someone forcing or pressuring another party using either physical or emotional tactics to get you to commit to a sexual act that they are not consenting to.

Chief Marisol Gamboa from the University Police department references the UCR Crime Agencies to describe rape to differentiate that and sexual assault.

Rape is the penetration of the vagina or anus with any body part or object, or oral penetration by a sex organ of another person, without the consent of the victim; attempts are included.

In 2021, there was a total of 43 rape cases in the Coles County area, with 13 of them being tracked back Charleston, Illinois and two of them at Eastern Illinois University.

This can leave sexual assault victims curious as to what they should do.

This is where SACIS came to help.

Located at 825 18th St. in Charleston, the SACIS main office and counseling suite is open daily from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Monday through Friday. Their doors are open to everyone.

Ashlee Bell, the administrative specialist at the SACIS Charleston office, said that they work to make sure that every survivor gets the help that they need and deserve.

“So we provide victim centered services to any victim or survivor of sexual assault, including significant others,” Bell said. “We provide services from counseling to advocacy, with legal advocacy, medical advocacy and case management.”

There is a waitlist at the Charleston location for counselors currently.

Just because someone is on the waitlist does not mean that they still can not get help.

The counselors at SACIS will keep in touch with the potential clients and do check-in with them while they are on the waitlist to ensure that not only are they safe, but they can still get the help that they need.

Not only that, but SACIS also does prevention work at different schools to teach the younger generation too. They

want to make sure that the kids have a safe space to not only be heard, but also be seen.

To help spread awareness, April is sexual assault awareness and prevention month.

Throughout the month of April, SACIS will host various events to help promote safety tips and to prevent further cases

from occurring.

For those survivors that are struggling, SACIS does offer some help in advocating for oneself.

“If it’s like a recent assault, we could suggest things like, if you feel safe to go out to the hospital for medical advocacy, we could have an advocate meet you there and see what you know, with you the whole time if that’s what you would prefer,” says Bell.

For the individuals that do not feel fully comfortable talking to someone in person, there is always a hotline option to utilize as well.

“I would suggest calling the crisis hotline to just talk to someone, no matter the time,” Bell said. “24 hours a day, seven days a week holidays included…I guess just reaching out for help,” Bell, along with all the other members at SACIS acknowledge that taking the first step is always the hardest. They are here to help and make the healing process as smooth as possible.

“I know it can be scary, but like being sure that they get that help if they feel like they really want that help,” Bell said.

Even after healing, Bell encourages survivors to talk to people that can make them feel safe.

“I would just suggest reaching out when they feel like they need to talk to someone,” Bell said. “Being sure like I know it’s so hard and scary to ask for help. It can have really cool benefits as well.”

Bell had a message she does want everyone struggling to know, there is hope.

“You’re not alone,” Bell said. “More than anything, I just want people to know they’re not alone. And that we exist that we’re here in that we want to help and just keep calling us. Keep calling us like we are. We’re here for you.” If you or someone you know is struggling with sexual abuse, please call the SACIS office at (217) 348-5033, or the crisis hotline at (800)-656-HOPE.

Adriana Hernandez-Santana can be reached at 581-2812 or at aihernandez@eiu.edu.

GRAPHIC BY MADELYN KIDD

COLUMN

Sexual assault is a huge problem in college athletics

Mental health awareness and sexual assault awareness are two of the biggest things that need to be talked about and seen when it comes to college athletics.

While these things have been talked about, they need more awareness brought to it because these things are still running rampant in the college athletics community.

As we are in the midst of Sexual Assault Awareness Month (SAAM), I thought I would put together some statistics and materials from other publications and surveys that show just how bad sexual assault and abuse is in the college athletics community.

According to a survey by Laurenskids.org, they found that when it comes to present and former college athletes, at least one out of every four of them had suffered from sexual abuse by someone who has a position of authority or power on their campus.

According to the NCAA, there are currently about 520,000 active college student athletes as of December 2022.

The NCAA and the schools have to do more in protecting student athletes. They have to make them feel they are safe enough to report when this happens.

In that same survey, most of the athletes were scared to turn in the coach or their abuser because they feared things would change or they would lose their scholarships.

This is saddening because these athletes should feel safe when they are playing the game that they love.

to report harassment or abuse: You are seen. You are heard.

You are loved and you are better than your abuser. Meet with a trusted friend and then try your best to tell a trusted authority figure on campus.

Your safety is worth more than a scholarship.

You deserve to be protected by your team, your athletic department, your university, and the NCAA. If they are failing to do so, just imagine how many others they are failing.

If we look at this when it comes to Eastern’s numbers, there were 427 student athletes in the 2022-2023 year.

This would mean that potentially about 107 of those athletes have endured some type of sexual assault in their collegiate career by someone of authority on campus.

This survey only looked at assault by someone of a higher power on campus, so I truly cannot imagine how many of them have been assaulted or harassed by others on and off campus.

If we put those numbers together, that would come to about 130,000 student athletes who have potentially been sexually abused or harassed at some point in their collegiate career by someone on the campus with authority.

There are so many athletes that move away from the safety of their homes and towns and come to these new places to represent these schools.

Some athletes move across the country in order to play sports in the United States. They risk everything to come here to play the sport that they love.

A lot of them have a hard time communicating because of the language barrier, therefore, I can only imagine what level of fear they would feel coming forward about potential abuse or wrongdoing.

It is unfortunate that a lot of athletes get harassed and abused while trying to play the game they love. It is truly disheartening.

To those who are scared or nervous

I know it is a lot more easier said than done, so maybe these universities and the NCAA need to do a better job in making their students feel they are safe.

To the NCAA and its universities, please do better. These athletes have come to represent and play for you. The least you can do is make them feel safe and put their safety above wins and championships and whatever money they bring in.

Your teams will not be successful unless the athletes feel safe and welcomed in the environments they are playing in.

Kate Stevens can be reached at 5812812 or at kestevens2@eiu.edu

Kate Stevens

Eastern athletic department’s history with sexual assault

By Autumn Schulz Sports Editor | @autschulz

On April 29, 2020, former Eastern women’s soccer midfielder Malorie Henderlong posted a 13-minute-long YouTube video telling the story of her alleged sexual assault by a former Eastern baseball player. Since the posting of the video, there has been no reported resolution to the case.

Henderlong says in the video that she was sexually assaulted on April 29, 2017, and in May of 2020, both Eastern and the Eastern athletic department said that they knew of the sexual assault complaint filed by Henderlong on May 6, 2017.

Henderlong said in the video that her and her friends were throwing one of her fellow teammates their 21st birthday party. Those at the party included close friends, teammates and a few members of the 2017 Eastern baseball team.

Henderlong said in the video that she had gotten to know a particular member of the baseball team pretty well. She said that they had studied together and hung out multiple times.

Throughout the night of the party, Henderlong’s alleged attacker offered her alcohol.

“I took the alcohol and began to engage in conversation, dance some more, and before I knew it, I was completely intoxicated,” Henderlong said in the video.

Henderlong said that she left the party with a group of friends and her alleged attacker and headed to the bars. At 2:03 a.m., Henderlong was alone with her alleged attacker and due to her intoxicated status, he was able to pick her up over his shoulder and carry her to his apartment where the alleged assault took place.

Henderlong said in the video Athletic Director Tom Michael was made aware of the incident, and the alleged sexual assault was required to be reported to the police and to University President David Glassman.

“I expected the situation to be handled properly. It wasn’t,” Henderlong said. “I ended up transferring, and he ended up still playing baseball at EIU.”

The accused baseball player was allowed to finish out the rest of the 2017 season and return to play for Eastern during the 2018 season.

On May 1, 2020, Eastern released a statement in response to Henderlong’s video stating that “Then and now, Eastern Illinois University has policies and procedures in place to address and investigate claims of sexual violence, including a non-biased complaint process and review.”

The statement went on to say that “Though the severity of this circumstance makes it difficult to understand, as students Ms. Henderlong and her alleged attacker have inherent privacy rights. For that reason, EIU is not able to comment on

the matter other than it was brought to our attention on May 6, 2017.”

The statement also said that “By her testimony, Ms. Henderlong has found peace. We wish her continued success on that path and in all her future pursuits.”

A second Eastern student came forward in May of 2020 and said that she was sexually assaulted by an Eastern football player in September of 2019.

Her name was kept anonymous by The News for privacy reasons.

The student reported the assault to Eastern and a Title IX investigation was conducted, and the investigation found the player guilty and recommended that he was suspended from the team.

Both Glassman and Michael were made aware of the assault and the recommendation that the player be suspended from the team, but the player was able to finish out the season, according to The News’ article in 2020.

An Eastern professor, who remained anonymous and was a part of the investigation, told The News that the board that carried out the investigation asked Glassman and Lynette Drake, former Vice President of Student Affairs, about why the player was still playing but they were met with “little interest from the administrators,” told to The News in 2020.

Last week, The News sent out an anonymous Google form to the Eastern commu-

nity, encouraging everyone to participate, including those in the Eastern athletics department.

Two female Eastern athletes responded to the form. Both athletes said that the athletics department has talked to them about what to do if sexual assault or harassment occurs.

One of the female athletes is a member of the women’s soccer team. Her experience happened on campus, and it was reported to either the University Police Department or Student Accountability.

She said that “One incident was when he touched me aggressively without my consent and had intentions of sexual contact. Another incident is when he kept putting his hands in inappropriate places without my consent.”

She said that the result of her report was that her attacker was informed, and that they had to stay away from the team.

One of the questions on the Google form was are there ways that EIU could improve sexual assault prevention or how the report is handled by UPD or Student Accountability.

The soccer athlete responded by saying “I think they should be able to have more control in what the consequences are for the person that committed the assault.”

SCREEN GRAB FROM HENDERLONG’S YOUTUBE CHANNEL

A screengrab from Malorie Henderlong’s YouTube channel of her video. In the video, Henderlong gives her testimony and story about her alleged sexual assault by a fromer Eastern Illiinois baseball player in April of 2017.