Outrage Over a Stanford Rape Case Might Change How Some Colleges Respond to Sexual Violence

After a former Stanford University swimmer received a six-month prison sentence for sexually assaulting an unconscious woman outside a fraternity party on the campus, many people were outraged and others wondered what lessons could be learned from such a high-profile case.

The case stood out for several reasons: Two graduate students witnessed the perpetrator, Brock Allen Turner, on top of the woman and chased him down after he tried to flee. The incident involved a criminal proceeding that ended with Mr. Turner, who is 20, being convicted of three felony charges of sexual assault. And his victim, who was not a Stanford student, released a statement about her experience that went viral after BuzzFeed published it online.

The California judge who oversaw Mr. Turner’s criminal trial has since faced a huge backlash over what many people have called too lenient a sentence. Mr. Turner has maintained that the encounter was consensual.

Some experts on campus sexual assault say the case, and the ensuing public controversy, may change how sexual assaults are reported and combated on campuses, even as Stanford said in a statement this week that it had done “everything within its power to assure that justice was served.”

Rebecca Plante, an associate professor of sociology at Ithaca College, said the case had reinforced some advocates’ beliefs that sexual violence shouldn’t be handled only through a campus judicial system, and that colleges should take cases to the police more quickly. In this case, Stanford immediately turned over information to the police to begin a criminal investigation.

“It’s a tall order to suggest that the university should come in and be able to deal with sexual assault differently on a human scale than any other institution in U.S. society,” Ms. Plante said. “There are a lot of arguments against having colleges and universities adjudicating crimes.”

And because this case played out so publicly, there has been increased pressure for swifter and tougher punishments from both the university and the criminal-justice system.

Peter F. Lake, a professor at the Stetson University College of Law and an expert on the gender-equity law known as Title IX, said Stanford had given Mr. Turner one of its toughest punishments by banning him from the campus, but a demand for colleges to issue harsher penalties remains.

“For a campus today it’s coming very close to the point where … expulsion is automatically on the table,” Mr. Lake said.

Ms. Plante agreed, saying she is not sure what else the university could have done.

This case may have the best odds of becoming a catalyst for change because so many of its details are available to the public, like the victim’s statement, and statements from Mr. Turner’s father and friends that have drawn widespread condemnation, Ms. Plante said.

But for colleges to reduce sexual assault and improve how those cases are handled, Ms. Plante said they can’t just look at this case with shock. Most important, she said, they have to talk about a campus’s individual sexual climate. That means administrators, not just students, must understand those dynamics to better educate students about gender relations, sex, and sexual violence, she added. Bystander training and basic sexual education won’t suffice.

The Stanford case may also accelerate the push for colleges and law-enforcement officials to work together when it comes to sexual-assault cases, Mr. Lake said.

“I do think that more and more people will be seeking direct access to the criminal-justice system,” Mr. Lake said. “I also think that people will go to their colleges as well because the college Title IX system can also offer things that the criminal-justice system won’t.”

Many campuses try to make the victim as comfortable as possible during the investigation, Mr. Lake said. Colleges may offer schedule changes and counseling, whereas a criminal investigation’s probing questions can make it seem as if a victim is being treated like evidence.

Still, the two worlds are tough to merge because they enforce two seemingly related but completely different standards.

“People need to understand that the universities are enforcing a code of student conduct and the criminal-justice system enforces state law,” said Mary P. Koss, a professor of public health at the University of Arizona and a sexual-assault researcher.

Other universities now have the opportunity to learn from Stanford’s situation. Given that the public is reacting so strongly to a criminal-justice decision, Ms. Koss said, universities should not wait for a courtroom decision to discipline a student on their campus.

Fernanda Zamudio-Suaréz is a web writer. Follow her on Twitter @FernandaZamudio, or email her at fzamudiosuarez@chronicle.com.

Correction (6/8/2016, 4:25 p.m.): This article originally included one incorrect reference to Mr. Turner as “Mr. Tucker.” That reference has been corrected.