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Read More About ‘Yes Means Yes’

The U. of Oregon is one of many institutions being criticized for their response to reports of sexual assault. Colleges across the country 
are reviewing campus policies to investigate and resolve alleged incidents.
The U. of Oregon is one of many institutions being criticized for their response to reports of sexual assault. Colleges across the country 
are reviewing campus policies to investigate and resolve alleged incidents.

Affirmative-consent rules are intended to set clear standards for what’s required of students. And they’re changing how colleges adjudicate alleged assaults.

Rebecca Robbins, a sophomore sexual-assault peer educator at Towson U., uses a health fair to invite students to play a game called "How Sexy Are You?" She reads cards describing sexual situations, and players seek to place each one on a continuum of consent. Some scenarios are clear-cut; others are ambiguous.
Campus Safety
‘Yes’ to Sex? Students Consider What That Looks and Sounds Like
By Robin Wilson
The standard of “affirmative consent” in sexual encounters has spread to many campuses, but students are still trying to figure out how to apply it.
LaToya Hill Smith, Title IX coordinator at the U. of Texas of Austin, spoke at a recent conference there about affirmative-consent policies. At Texas, she said, “both parties are afforded the same due process from the beginning to the end of the discipline process.”
Campus Safety
As Consent Rules Change, Big Questions Come to the Surface
By Katherine Mangan
Hundreds of colleges and a few states have adopted policies requiring affirmative consent. An unusual conference in Texas highlighted moral and philosophical objections to the new approach.
The Legal Limits of ‘Yes Means Yes’ 1
The Review
The Legal Limits of ‘Yes Means Yes’
By Paul H. Robinson
Affirmative consent is valuable as a guide for proper conduct, not as a standard for determining responsibility.
Michele Landis Dauber, a professor of law at Stanford U., disputes the argument that affirmative-consent policies put an unfair burden on accused students. Such policies change the elements that have to be proved, she says, but the burden of proving that she did not consent stays on the accuser.
Students
What ‘Yes Means Yes’ Means for Colleges’ Sex-Assault Investigations
By Katherine Mangan
Affirmative-consent rules set clear standards for what’s required of students. They’re also changing how colleges adjudicate alleged assaults.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo of New York this month signed into law a new policy that requires affirmative consent to combat sexual violence on college campuses across the state. New York is among several states that are considering or have enacted such “yes means yes” policies.
Students
When a State Decides That ‘Yes Means Yes,’ What Does That Mean for Colleges?
By Colleen Murphy
As New York institutions weigh a new “affirmative consent” law, it’s worth looking at how California’s similar one has shaped responses to sexual assault.
Sexual interest and consent are often expressed through innuendo 
and nonverbal signals, researchers say. That can make it difficult 
to determine what qualifies as assault.
Students
Colleges Wrestle With How to Define Rape
By Robin Wilson
The question is pivotal as campuses try to strengthen their responses to sexual assault.
‘Yes Means Yes’ Isn’t the Answer 1
Commentary
‘Yes Means Yes’ Isn’t the Answer
By Kathleen A. Bogle
New legislation in California implies that campus sexual assaults are merely the result of misunderstandings. The law is a distraction that will not reduce the problem.
Legal
What California’s New Sexual-Consent Law Means for Its Colleges
By Eric Kelderman
A newly signed bill requires colleges to adopt a “yes means yes” standard in handling sexual-assault cases. Here’s how that definition will play out.
Gov. Jerry Brown signed the "affirmative consent" bill into law on Sunday. Activists have hailed the measure as an important step in clarifying the standard colleges use in investigating sexual-assault cases.
Defining Sexual Consent
California Shifts to ‘Yes Means Yes’ Standard for College Sex
By Jared Misner
Under the new law, students must have “affirmative consent” from partners for the duration of sexual activity.
Defining Sexual Consent
How ‘Yes Means Yes’ Already Works on One Campus
By Robin Wilson
Grinnell College adopted such a policy in 2012. While it might sound awkward, students say, it opens opportunity for dialogue and confronts assumptions.
The U. of Oregon is one of many institutions being criticized for their response to reports of sexual assault. Colleges across the country 
are reviewing campus policies to investigate and resolve alleged incidents.
Students
In Sexual-Misconduct Policies, Difficulty Arises in Defining ‘Yes’
By Monica Vendituoli
Language varies widely from college to college, but pressure is growing to toughen the standards.