California debates 'yes means yes' sex assault law

[appal_jack]

8. Modified & improved, but never abandoned.

I was an Antioch student during the early 1990's, and I can say with confidence that the sexual offense policy that gained nationwide notoriety was not set-aside during my time on campus (through 1994), nor to my knowledge any time thereafter (I am not sure what has happened since the 'old' Antioch closed its doors ~2005, and then reopened as a 'non-successor institution' in 2008 or so).

Though the policy was deemed radical by the mainstream media during 1991-1992, most of us on campus were not shocked or horrified that our college asked us to discuss sexual boundaries with our partners before and during sexual activity. The policy came about after a quarter when three rapes were reported on campus. This was a college of 600, where only 300-400 students were on-campus at a time (their co-op program had about 1/3 of the students working jobs off-campus at any given time). So imagine that: 1% of the on-campus population reported a rape. Of course something needed to be done.

The originally-proposed policy was modified and improved through a community and administrative process, which thankfully added necessary due process protections for the accused. But the core of the policy remained the same: if you are going to engage in sex, you have a responsibility to talk about what's OK and mutually desirable with your partner. This was a good step for the Antioch community back then, and I hope it is also a good step for California campuses now.

K&R,

-app