Academy Plans to Share Sexual Assault Protocol

After several months of deliberation and review of peer school protocols, the Exeter administration has produced an official document describing the Academy’s process of responding to accusations of on-campus sexual assault, to be shared with the community by the end of this year. 

Principal William Rawson and Assistant Principal Karen Lassey led this effort to clarify the reporting process for students. Lassey emphasized that this document is not a new policy, but rather an official written protocol detailing the reporting process. “We call the document a ‘protocol’ because we’re trying to be really clear and detailed about what this process looks like,” she said.

In light of last Thursday’s sit-in, during which several hundred Exonians gathered to voice concern about the Academy’s alleged mishandling of sexual assault cases, senior Grace Gray emphasized the need for all Exonians to be aware of Academy protocol. “I did not know a sufficient amount about the protocol without reviewing this 46 page protocol [document],” Gray said. “In fact, I believe our knowledge will not be sufficient until I can say that every single one of my classmates also extensively knows our sexual misconduct protocol.”

According to Lassey, the administration shared a draft of the document with a group of students who requested it over the weekend and will be making final adjustments in response to their feedback. “Once we’ve finalized the next draft, we will share it with the whole community. Ultimately, it will be incorporated into the E Book, and it may also be a standalone document that’s available on the website,” Lassey said.

Gray reflected on possible areas for improvement upon reviewing the document. “My most fundamental change would be for it to reflect our affirmative consent policy in all of our actions: if somebody is not clearly and freely consenting to an action, the school must take some course of action, whether that means entering the reported party into a structured remedial learning and reflection program and/or disciplinary action,” she said.

Gray also requested the addition of more possible courses of action once a case is closed. “We must not have a binary system in which our only outcomes of an investigation are disciplinary or no disciplinary action,” she said. “Instead, we must seek to weigh impact into our decision process of each sexual misconduct case and ultimately recognize the hurt of the reporting party so that every student feels safe to report and supported by the system once they do.”

Exonians Against Sexual Assault (EASA) co-head and senior Grace Carroll believes the written protocol will grant students a greater sense of security in the reporting process. “Reporting can be a very daunting thing … This protocol allows students to envision how the reporting process will occur,” she said.

EASA co-head and senior Jane Collins explained that several EASA members had walked students through the reporting process before. “The reporting process puts students in a hard situation, because if they ask a faculty or a student over 18, [then those students] are mandated reporters and must tell the school,” she said. “That means that they have only their friends to confide in and ask for clarification on the process. Some of the EASA leaders have served this role, but often we don’t know all of the details of the process.”

Upper Janalie Cobb believes the protocol “introduces accountability.” She continued, “Before, it often seemed that the administration acted like there was a protocol, but there was no way to confirm each step … This way, when students want to amend the process, there is a tangible document to edit.”

The Academy has made other initiatives in the past to clarify the reporting process. Collins recalled a flow chart that was pinned up in every dorm a few years ago, detailing steps to take when sexual misconduct takes place. 

Compared to the flow chart, the written protocol details the reporting process in greater depth, Cobb explained. “The fact that the protocol is 46 pages should show everyone that it is more detailed than the single page flowchart,” she said.

Gray believes this initiative is integral to the Academy’s larger progress on clarifying the reporting process. “My main takeaway is that Exeter’s problems with handling sexual misconduct are greater than one person,” she said. “We must address every person involved in this process, including past and present students and adults, to achieve holistic improvement.”