We’ve all noticed a change on campus.

During these first few weeks of the semester, there have already been two reported sexual assaults and one sexual assault that was not related to the SMU community.

At The Daily Campus, we’ve become concerned that we do not feel safe on our own campus anymore. And it seems with these issues, the conversation only becomes important when the incidents happen then they seem to disappear.

We feel education is the key to prevention. Instead of sending out mass emails, holding forums and telling females to walk in pairs and be alert, we should be educating all students on how to respect each other and that no really means no.

In order to bring change to campus, society needs to change. In general, women are told to not walk alone, don’t be out too late, be aware of your surroundings, etc. While it’s important for women and men alike to be cautious at night, the responsibility should not be put on the victim to prevent oneself from being assaulted.

SMU has put preventative measures in place to help keep the conversation going, but what do we do as a community when it keeps happening?

In addition to teaching potential victims how to protect and prevent themselves from being attacked, we should be teaching young minds to recognize and discourage predatory behavior among their peers. There are many studies that show the brain isn’t fully developed until a person’s late 20s, so ideas and predispositions about sexual assault can still be changed even in college.

We certainly don’t have the answers, but we believe that if the conversation keeps happening on a consistent basis, people will become more educated on the subject. With education comes change, and when change happens we can finally feel safe on our campus.