Reported sexual misconduct at UF is increasing.
In his monthly Alligator column, UF President Kent Fuchs wrote that preliminary results of a climate survey from the Association of American Universities on sexual misconduct showed “distressing” results. The rate of reported sexual assaults and misconduct at UF and other universities are on the rise.
The full results of the Spring 2019 survey will likely be made public Tuesday, said UF spokesperson Steve Orlando.
“I am discouraged and disheartened by what I have learned,” Fuchs wrote.
In April, Fuchs announced the Campus Climate Survey on Sexual Assault and Misconduct to UF students in an email. The survey asked students questions about their knowledge of on-campus resources, what sexual assault is and their thoughts on how prevalent sexual assault is at UF. A similar 2015 survey had a 17 percent participation rate.
Since 2015, undergraduate female reports of nonconsensual sexual conduct, threats of physical force or incapacitation increased from 23 to 26 percent and male from 5 to 7 percent. The first study included 26 other universities and the recent one included 32, Fuchs wrote.
Since the start of Fall 2019, a former UF resident assistant was arrested after a student accused him of attempting to sexually batter her, a former UF football player was accused of rape and multiple occurances of sexual battery on campus were made public.
A UF student also came forward about being raped while on her way to the Homecoming football game on Oct. 5.
With these results, Fuchs said UF needs to re-examine what it can do to prevent and aid these situations.
“In order for UF to be truly great, it must lead in eliminating sexual assault,” he wrote.
