Colleges Should Do More to Prevent Campus Violence, Report Says

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College and university officials must do more to deal with violence on their campuses, according to a report issued on Friday by the American College Health Association.

The report, "Campus Violence White Paper," analyzes patterns and underlying causes of campus violence and suggests ways for colleges to improve their response.

"We're hoping for a paradigm shift in how people look at violence and how we try to prevent it," said the report's author, Joetta L. Carr, an associate professor at Western Michigan University and head of the college-health association's Campus Violence Committee.

The report includes a bevy of statistics, from surveys or government sources, that suggest the scope of the problem. For example, 5.8 percent of female college students last year were victims of rape or attempted rape; 36 percent of lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender undergraduates have been harassed in the last year; and 1,400 students die each year from alcohol-related injuries.

Moreover, only about 25 percent of campus crimes are reported to the authorities, according to one survey cited in the report. In such cases, students either are not sure that a crime was committed, think that the crime was too minor to report, or believe it to be a personal issue. As a result, statistics that institutions compile each year, in accordance with the federal Campus Security Act, may be inaccurate, the report says.

Two of the main underlying causes of campus violence are the sports culture, which can promote "competition, aggression, and male privilege," and the use of alcohol, which is a "major factor," according to the report.

"If you can't have a safe campus to study, how can you expect the best learning to take place?" said Ms. Carr. Violence affects colleges' ability to retain their students, she said.

To deal with the issue, the report suggests, among other things, that colleges offer alcohol-free and smoke-free dormitories, impose zero-tolerance policies for offenders, foster an atmosphere that encourages witnesses to report crimes, and no longer make it necessary for a victim to participate in a campus judicial proceeding.

The full text of the report is available on the association's Web site (requires Adobe Reader, available free).

• A Wider Window on Campus Crime (8/13/2004)

• Alcohol Arrests on Campuses Increased Again in 2002 (5/28/2004)

• Sex and Football (2/27/2004)

• Colleges Decide How to Comply With New Sex-Offender Law (1/24/2003)

• Congress Approves Bill to Identify Sex Offenders on Campuses (10/20/2000)