Some Harvard graduates are wearing red tape on their caps to protest the university’s sexual assault policies
The red tape symbolizes their solidarity with survivors of sexual violence.
Before Brianna Suslovic heads to her commencement ceremony Thursday morning, the Harvard senior will stick a long piece of red tape on her black graduation cap.
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“By wearing red tape, we want to show members of the Harvard community that we’re standing in solidarity with survivors of sexual violence, including ones who can’t be there because of the violence they experienced,” she said. “But we also want to show that we believe Harvard can do better.”
Our Harvard Can Do Better, an undergraduate campaign advocating for better campus sexual assault policies on behalf of survivors, organized the red tape plan. Jessica Fournier, one of the group’s members, said it first launched the red tape movement in 2014, when the college’s sexual assault policies were implemented.
“A whole coalition of activists from different organizations, including from racial justice movements, wanted to do something to mark how bittersweet that moment was,” she said. “At a time where everyone is coming together and Harvard is putting on this celebration, for the graduates and for itself, we wanted to mark the inadequacy of their response to survivors.”
The 2014 sexual assault policy applies to every member of the Harvard community, and a new department called the Office of Dispute Resolution professionally investigates complaints, said spokeswoman Tania deLuzuriaga in an email. She also noted that Harvard has appointed trained Title IX coordinators in every school and unit, doubled resources for the Office of Sexual Assault Prevention and Response, and convened a taskforce to recommend more effective prevention methods.
“The prevalence of sexual harassment and assault at Harvard and on college campuses across the nation is deeply disturbing,” deLuzuriaga said in the email. “We support the right of every community member to express their views about this and other important issues.”
Because of what Fournier called “logistical problems,” no action took place in 2015. But due to a campus climate survey released in the fall, Suslovic said there’s been a resurgence of energy around the issue. The survey found that nearly one in three Harvard women said they had an unwanted sexual experience by the time they graduated. Further, nearly 73 percent of undergraduate women and 51 percent of undergraduate men had experienced sexual harassment during their time on campus.
After the survey was released, the university held a series of campus forums and formed a task force to recommend improvements to the college’s approach to sexual assault. The report was released in March, and recommended students receive annual sexual assault prevention training courses that “encompass values, alcohol use, and healthy sexuality, as well as policies.’’
Still, Suslovic and Fournier said the university needs to do more. They’d like the school to centralize resources for survivors to ensure that their mental health and well-being aren’t sacrificed due to academic pressures.
“Survivors can’t access basic accommodations like coursework extensions and are forced to wait months for investigation decisions,” Suslovic said.
While she’s not sure how many people will wear red on their caps during commencement, Suslovic said the organization has a representative from each dorm who will help distribute tape before Thursday’s ceremonies begin at 8 a.m.
“We want the university to know that, even as alumni, we’ll continue to watch and hold them accountable for their actions,” she said.
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