St. Thomas dean of students Linda Baughman-Terry issued an email on Nov. 2 to address sexual assault on campus, sparking controversy across the student body.

The email stated that St. Thomas received 20 reports of sexual assault between January 2015 and December 2015, noting that the numbers are likely much higher based on national averages. The email also encouraged victims of sexual assault to come forward and gave preventative tips.

“St. Thomas carefully considers when to issue a campus alert when a sexual assault has been reported,” the email read. “When the university receives a report of a sexual assault, a risk assessment is conducted to determine if a campus notification is required. Campus notification is made based on the facts and circumstances of each incident.”

For junior Whitney Oachs, the email failed to fully address the rising epidemic of sexual assaults on college campuses, especially those that happen at St. Thomas.

“I was really glad that St. Thomas was trying to be more transparent about their policy and just about how they look at cases of rape and sexual assault,” Oachs said. “But at the same time, I was really disappointed because I felt like the university had a lot of audacity to think this was an adequate response to someone’s pain and experience.”

Oachs and eight other students wrote a petition asking St. Thomas administration to reform their stance on sending out alerts of sexual assaults on campus and requesting that students receive an alert within five days of every incident.

“Alerts should be used as a way for St. Thomas administration to affirm that they acknowledge and will not tolerate the presence of rape and sexual assault on campus,” the petition stated. “These alerts will also serve to make victim-survivors feel less isolated and more supported by the university.”

The petition circulated the internet and has gathered over a thousand signatures to date. Oachs felt that a discussion event in November on Title IX, a federal law that prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex, in the Luann Dummer Center for Women fostered constructive dialogue between St. Thomas students and the administration.

“We were supposed to just talk about Title IX, but instead it was this event where women were coming forward about what happened on this campus and how they faced this injustice,” Oachs said. “It was a really emotional day, and I think that it influenced members of the administration that were at the panel because it was really raw how many women faced injustice.”

The nine students received an email response to their petition on Nov. 22 from Dean of Students Karen Lange. The email stated that the administration is working on a pilot program that would send out a notification to students within a week of a sexual assault. In accordance with Minnesota law, the university will have full sexual assault reports available on their Title IX website, and they will again be sending an email at the end of the semester about the number of sexual assaults reported on campus.

“Our practices to prevent and address sexual assault, like practices at institutions around the country, continue to evolve,” the email stated. “There is no easy solution, and we depend on all members of our community to think critically about these issues so we can work together towards progress.”

While Oachs feels that much more needs to be done, she thinks that this is a step in the right direction.

“I never wanted to feel like I was against the university, but I’ll admit that sometimes I felt like I had to be because they weren’t listening,” Oachs said. “Receiving that email let me kind of let go of that feeling and look toward the future.”

Oachs wants to continue to work with St. Thomas to create ongoing solutions for sexual assaults and rape culture.

“We don’t want to just say ‘Here’s a problem — St. Thomas, fix it for us,” Oachs said. “We want to say ‘Here’s a problem — St. Thomas, and we have an idea of how to make it better.’”

Mary Brickner can be reached at bric0029@stthomas.edu.