UC Board of Regents discusses sexual assault on college campuses

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- The UC Board of Regents met in San Francisco on Wednesday to discuss several hot-button issues, including tackling the number of sexual assaults on college campuses.

Students lined up to address UC President Janet Napolitano, who attended the meeting at UCSF Mission Bay. Some had harsh words for the way sexual assaults on campuses have been handled.

One sexual assault survivor who is helping shape a task force was at the meeting. The survivor said it was about time that she and other victim advocates pushed the university to improve prevention, investigation, and response procedures.

"I felt betrayed not only by my assailant, but by my university. UC Berkeley did not foster a safe campus for me or give me the resources I needed to heal," she said.

Last month, Napolitano called for a task force to combat sexual violence on UC campuses. The regents updated their progress at the meeting.

"If an allegation is made, it will be investigated," UC spokesperson Diane Klein said.

The university is taking other steps, including better training for staff and protocols for working with law enforcement, but there are not open and shut cases. "Are we going to ruin, let's say, the life of some man who might have been falsely accused? No, we're not going to do that. We're going to get the facts," Klein said.

Meghan Warner, a UC Berkeley student who was assaulted at a fraternity, is now part of a workshop to give recommendations to the task force.

Warner said one of the keys is educating students about consent. "I do believe I would not have been assaulted had my perpetrators received the proper education training," she said.

Warner is concerned there's not enough funding for the task force to be efficient. "If you have one person or even two people who will be in charge of sexual harassment and discrimination and sexual assault for both the undergraduate and the graduate population, that's just not going to work," she said. "They don't have the time to be helping survivors or even helping survivors but investigating their cases properly."

UC officials said money has been set aside and many of those involved will donate their time to meet students' needs.