At the university level, there are multiple ways a sexual assault can be reported. Some sources are confidential, but others must report any sexual assaults to the university.
If any staff at the university hears about or is told about a sexual assault, they must report it to either Katie Slabaugh, Title IX Coordinator for Student Affairs, or John Bowers, Director of Institutional Equity Internal Investigations. That includes office staff, faculty, university police department, residence hall staff and coaches.
However, there are also university sources who are confidential, and cannot report sexual assaults to the university. That includes the Office of Victim Services, the Health Center, the Counseling Center and Allison Wynbissinger, the victim advocate, as well as many off-campus resources like A Better Way. Because the Counseling Center and the Health Center are medical centers, they are bound under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). Wynbissinger and the Office of Victim Services are a confidential source available to students.
Editor’s Note: This is the third story in a four-part series on campus sexual assault for Ball State’s sexual assault awareness week.
Hearing about a friend’s sexual assault is never an easy situation to be in. For a resident assistant, it’s something they prepare for before beginning the job.
Brooke Sturgell, a senior visual communications major and a former RA, handled it with a clear head when a resident brought up an assault that had happened in the past.
“She was referencing it in a way where she was detached from it, but still wanted to talk about it. It still made her feel kind of uncomfortable,” Sturgell said. “Obviously it was traumatic for her at some point, but it was more the grieving process for her and her trying to heal herself over time.”
Sturgell said the resident had told all of her RAs in the past about it, because it sometimes could affect her mood, so if she acted in a certain way, she wanted Sturgell to know why.
“That was her way of coping with it,” Sturgell said.
When an RA, or any university staff, is told about a sexual assault, they must report it to the university, specifically either Katie Slabaugh, Title IX Coordinator for Student Affairs, or John Bowers, Director of Institutional Equity Internal Investigations.
Sturgell said she had always had the ability to empathize with people, and that helped her in this situation, and with being a good RA in general.
“It’s easy for me to look at someone else’s situation and not belittle it,” Sturgell said.
Sturgell didn’t feel uncomfortable talking to her resident about this sensitive topic, because RAs receive training before the year starts.
Matt Kovach, Assistant Director of Housing and Residence Life, said in the summer they have a training session called Behind Closed Doors. The RAs go through scenarios where they are confronted with a problem, and they have to deal with it in a real-life manner.
“Returning staff members role-play scenarios where a new RA will have to come in and confront and have those conversations so they have the opportunity to practice with their peers and get some advice,” Kovach said. “Even for someone who’s done it before, that’s a hard conversation and the reality is, that person might not be ready to have it, and that’s okay.”
Kovach said they try to make the RAs understand that they aren’t counselors, and that it isn’t their job to sit there with them and process the whole situation with their resident if they don’t feel able to.
He said their main goal is to direct them to people who would be able to help them.
Brogan Drumm, a senior theatre major and a former RA, said they had cards to give to residents with numbers they could call to get help. She never had to deal with a resident who had been sexually assaulted. However, she said if the situation had come up, she felt prepared to deal with it, but not emotionally ready for it.
“I don’t think anyone feels prepared or ready to handle a situation like that, regardless of how much training you’ve had. If a resident, especially your resident, or a friend comes up to you and confides in you that they have been sexually assaulted, I don’t think anyone is really ready to deal with that or help them handle that,” Drumm said.
Sturgell said when a problem comes up, the best thing a RA can do for their resident is listen.
Often, she said problems came up when RAs didn’t listen to their residents, or they didn’t take the time to sit and talk with them.
“Most people don’t listen to listen, they listen to wait for their turn to talk,” Sturgell said. “I feel like the most innovative thing I did was sit and listen to people. That was always beneficial for them because they knew they could always come and talk to me whenever they wanted, so it created a safe space between me and them.”
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