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Most of the students who responded to Michigan Tech’s latest sexual misconduct climate survey felt the university is doing a good job of addressing the problem.
All students were invited to take part in the survey. 11 percent responded. Responses were anonymous.
Students who had an unwanted sexual experience most often said another student was responsible, specifically a non-romantic friend or a casual/first date. 2.4 percent said that they had recently experienced sexual contact initiated by someone using physical force or threatening physical harm.
Students who did not report their experience said they felt it was a private matter, wanted to deal with it on their own, didn’t think what happened was serious enough to talk about, wanted to forget about it, felt embarrassed or ashamed, or said they had other things to focus on, such as classes.
More than 80 percent of students agreed that Michigan Tech officials handle incidents in a fair and timely manner, and that they thought the University would support and protect the person making the report. Nearly half, though, felt it was likely that the accused offender or their friends might retaliate.
Ninety-eight percent of the students who responded said they would stop having sex if their partner said “stop.” Ninety-two percent said they would not take advantage of a drunk partner.
Tech ran the same survey five years ago. Officials say the current students are more likely to speak up about serious incidents, but still seem reluctant to address situations involving lewd comments or sexist remarks.
You can review all of the survey results here. mtu.edu/title-ix/assessment.
