College Admissions: New England Colleges With the Biggest Rape Issues
Cristiana Quinn, GoLocalProv College Admissions Expert
College Admissions: New England Colleges With the Biggest Rape Issues
Harvard—While many colleges across the country recently adopted mutual consent policies, meaning both partners must verbally consent to a sexual act, Harvard stunned the academic and legal worlds this fall. Their policy nebulously says that it forbids “unwelcome conduct,” which it defines as “unrequested or uninvited” behavior, but it stops short of requiring explicit consent. Critics find Harvard’s lack of strong language shocking since the university led the Ivy League in 2013 with 40 reported sexual assaults on campus.
Amherst College—This tiny, elite college in the foothills of Massachusetts made national headlines repeatedly in 2012 when multiple victims went public with their stories of rape and the mishandling of the crimes by the college. One male student even left a suicide note detailing his emotional crisis after he was raped on campus. Since then, the college has hired a Title IX administrator and student groups like “It’s On Us” have stepped up to solve the problem. Reports of sexual assault on campus have dropped from 15 in 2011 to 9 in 2013—showing that strong actions can have a positive impact on the problem.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTDartmouth---The Norman Rockwell setting in small-town Hanover, New Hampshire can’t mask the fact that Dartmouth has long been rumored to be a hostile environment for women. It began shortly after the college went co-ed in the 1970s, and it would seem that things haven’t changed much since then. Dartmouth comes in just behind Harvard with 35 reported sexual assaults on campus in 2013. Recently, strong words from the college’s President have led to a crackdown on campus with an acknowledgement of the issue and stricter policies. 2014 statistics will soon tell us if Dartmouth’s actions will be as effective as Amherst’s in reducing rape on campus.
Boston University—Big universities come with big problems. It’s not easy keeping students safe on a large, urban campus that weaves through one of the nation’s top cities. However, what made headlines and launched BU into the spotlight for sexual assault this year was how the student-run newspaper The Daily Free Press reported on sexual assaults. The publication used a series of callous puns in an article describing one student’s rape and released an April Fool’s edition joking about assault issues on campus. The paper since issued an apology, but the damage was done.
Other New England universities on the federal watch list include: the Universities of Connecticut and Massachusetts, as well as Emerson College in Boston. It is important to note that being absent from the list does not mean that a college has not had multiple sexual assaults on campus. It simply means that the federal government has not identified the school as mishandling or not resolving issues. To check the crime statistics for any college in the U.S., go to: http://ope.ed.gov/Security/.
Cristiana Quinn, M.Ed. is the founder of College Admission Advisors, LLC which provides strategic, college counseling and athletic recruiting services for students. www.collegeadvisorsonline.com.
Top New England Colleges According to Business Insider
#13 Wesleyan University
Overall Rank: 49
Location: Middletown, CT
Score: 2.73 out of 5
Tuition and Fees: $47,244
Business Insider: "With roughly 2,900 undergraduates on a 316-acre campus overlooking the Conn. River, Wesleyan uses its small size to provide highly personal faculty support and customizable programs of study to students.
#12 Boston University
Overall Rank: 45
Location: Boston, MA
Score: 2.79 out of 5
Tuition and Fees: $44,910
Business Insider: "A concrete campus located in the bustling city of Boston, BU has nearly 100 study abroad programs in 23 countries, an active social media presence with more than 200 Facebook pages and groups, and 20-plus NCAA Division I varsity sports, including a multiple NCAA national championship-winning hockey team."
#11 Wellesley College
Overall Rank: 44
Location: Wellesley, MA
Score: 2.86 out of 5
Tuition and Fees: $43,544
Business Insider: "Madeleine Albright, Hillary Rodham Clinton, and Diane Sawyer are among the nearly 37,000 living alumni of Wellesley College, an institute with an unwavering commitment to empowering women to make a difference in the world."
#10 Middlebury College
Overall Rank: 40
Location: Middlebury, VT
Score: 2.94 out of 5
Tuition and Fees: $57,075
Business Insider: "Renowned for leadership in language instruction and environmental studies, Middlebury emphasizes close interaction between students and faculty as the core of its education. All courses are taught by faculty members, rather than graduate assistants, and 65% of classes contain fewer than 20 students."
#9 Tufts University
Overall Rank: 37
Location: Medford, MA
Score: 3.07 out of 5
Tuition and Fees: $46,598
Business Insider: "Tufts University encourages students to pursue interdisciplinary studies at its two colleges, the School of Arts and Sciences and the School of Engineering. An overwhelming 90% of students are enrolled in the first, which boasts a liberal arts college feel in a research-rich environment."
#8 Boston College
Overall Rank: 36
Location: Boston, MA
Score: 3.09 out of 5
Tuition and Fees: $46,088
Business Insider: "Boston College jumps four spots on our list, thanks in part to its tremendous growth in recent years. Undergraduate applications have soared 75% over the past decade, and voluntary giving by alumni has increased the university's endowment to $1.9 billion."
#7 Amherst College
Overall Rank: 27
Location: Amherst, MA
Score: 3.31 out of 5
Tuition and Fees: $58,744
Business Insider: "Ranked the second-best liberal arts school in the nation, according to U.S. News and World Report, Amherst College climbed four spots on our list this year."
#6 Williams College
Overall Rank: 23
Location: Williamstown, MA
Score: 3.40 out of 5
Tuition and Fees: $46,600
Business Insider: "Williams was number 27 on last year's list, but our readers voted it up to No. 23 this time around. A top liberal arts college, Williams is set to host its own TEDx conference for students and faculty in January 2014."
#5 Brown University
Overall Rank: 20
Location: Providence, RI
Score: 3.60 out of 5
Tuition and Fees: $45,612
Business Insider: "Brown is known for being the most individualistic of the Ivies, and with some of the happiest students."
#4 Dartmouth College
Overall Rank: 9
Location: Hanover, NH
Score: 3.96 out of 5
Tuition and Fees: $46,752
Business Insider: "At 4,200 enrolled undergraduate students, Dartmouth is the smallest of the Ivies. But its size has no bearing on the prestige of its programs; the school was ranked No. 1 in undergraduate teaching courses by U.S. News & World Report for the fourth year in a row."
#3 Yale University
Overall Rank: 5
Location: New Haven, CT
Score: 4.25 out of 5
Tuition and Fees: $44,125
Business Insider: "Our readers were not shy in praising Yale's hardworking professors: 'Yale is still the best ranking... school thanks to it[s] high profile faculty," one respondent pointed out. 'It's them who keep Yale in the top.'"
#2 Harvard University
Overall Rank: 3
Location: Cambridge, MA
Score: 4.42 out of 5
Tuition and Fees: $42,292
Business Insider: "For the third year in a row, Harvard has held fast at No. 3. Harvard's most popular majors (or "concentrations," as they're called there) are economics and political science, and the Crimson school has been hailed for its think-outside-the-box approach to learning."
Business Insider's rating is scored out of 5 and is based on the results of a 1,000-person reader survey that asked how much each college will help students succeed in life. Tuition was used as a tiebreaker, with cheaper tuition pushing a school to a higher spot.
#1 MIT
Overall Rank: 1
Location: Cambridge, MA
Score: 4.5 out of 5
Tuition and Fees: $42,050
Business Insider: "The tech school admits fewer than 9 percent of applicants, some of whom have gone on to achieve prestigious awards like Nobel Prizes, National Medals of Science, MacArthur Grants, and National Medals of Technology and Innovation."
Business Insider's rating is scored out of 5 and is based on the results of a 1,000-person reader survey that asked how much each college will help students succeed in life. Tuition was used as a tiebreaker, with cheaper tuition pushing a school to a higher spot.
