Content warning: The following story deals with themes and personal narratives of sexual assault. Doane offers free counseling for students. Additionally, the Hope Crisis Center, serving southeast Nebraska, can be reached anytime at 1-877-388-HOPE(4673).
Hello devoted readers, I hope you’ve had a fun and eventful Homecoming week. I also hope you were able to take some time over fall break to relax, catch up on some homework, or even spend time with your friends and family.
Now, this isn’t something I would typically talk about, and quite frankly, I always assumed it was common sense. But given recent events, it has reminded me that what should be common sense is not always. If you’ve been on social media lately, you may have come across the “Cornell seven” case.
In October 2024, a woman identified as “Jane Doe” reported to Cornell campus police that she was drugged and raped by seven members of the Chi Phi fraternity at Cornell University. According to reports of the case, the university’s response to the incident was to expel two of the men, while the other five were required to write essays to reflect on what they did. Two years later, on Sept. 16, 2026, Doe filed a civil lawsuit against the seven men, the Chi Phi fraternity and Cornell University.
Cases like these are disturbing for a variety of reasons, not only because of the allegations themselves but also because they raise serious questions about accountability, their campus safety as a whole, and how universities like this respond to sexual violence. According to the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), nearly half of women and one in six men in the United States have experienced some form of contact sexual violence in their lifetime.
Let that sink in for a moment.
Now, let’s step away from the facts and look at the bigger picture here: Sexual violence should never happen under any circumstances. Period.
Many of us reading this are college students. Jane Doe was a student too. The men who did these awful things to her were students attending the same university, on the same campus and possibly sitting in the same classrooms as her. College is supposed to be the place where we learn, grow, build relationships and discover who we truly are. No one should have to question their safety in a place that is supposed to help them build their future. And that is what makes this so unsettling.
These are not distant, fictional situations that only happen to other people. Sexual violence can affect people regardless of their age, background, gender or social circle. It can happen to someone you know, someone you care about or someone sitting right next to you in class. It can happen to anyone.
We cannot keep treating sexual violence as though it is someone else’s problem until it hits closer to home.
The Doane community strives to educate its students about consent and how it is essential to every interaction you have, regardless if it’s intimate or not. Consent is not a guessing game, a gray area to explore, or something that can be assumed because two people are together, flirting or have been initiated before. Someone who is unconscious or too impaired to make an informed decision cannot give consent. And no, being under the influence is not an excuse to ignore someone’s boundaries.
If someone says no, the answer is no. If someone is unable to consent, the answer is no. If someone changes their mind, you respect that decision. It really should not be difficult to understand.
And if you’re still struggling to grasp these basic concepts, then it is time to take a serious look at your understanding of consent and accountability, and ironically there are people here at Doane to inform you about it.
Consent should be the bare minimum, not a lesson we have to keep repeating. We should not have to remind people that other human beings are not objects, that boundaries deserve respect or that being intoxicated does not give anyone permission to take advantage of another person. These should be the foundations of how we treat one another, both on campus and beyond. No one owes you access to their body. No one owes you an explanation for saying no. And no one should have to fear that their boundaries will be ignored
