Nearly one in ten Princeton undergraduate students who responded to the April 2001 Core Alcohol and Drug Survey reported that they were in some way sexually harassed on campus.
The survey, conducted by University Health Services every three years, focuses on the wide range of health behaviors of undergraduate students.
"We know that there are issues on college campuses. To us, it is not a surprise that students are having some difficulties in their personal, social and other types of activities," said Janet Finnie, the associate director of health services.
Today, Finnie will present the data of the Core survey to President Tilghman and her administration.
Dr. Thema Bryant, the coordinator of Sexual Harassment/Assault, Advising, Resources and Education, said she thinks the survey allows students to tell the real story of what it is like to be a student at the University, especially regarding sensitive subject areas like harassment.
"As opposed to coming out to seek help or counseling, when you are responding to a survey, it is a little less threatening," Bryant said. "You have this anonymous opportunity to say, 'Yes, this did happen to me.' "
The problem, though, with the data about harassment is the varying definition of what sexual harassment is. "In terms of the survey, language makes a big difference," Bryant said.
The 9.3 percent of undergraduates who said they were sexually harassed may not be an accurate figure.
"It is surprising in a sense that I know that there are more people who are assaulted," Bryant said.
Finnie also addressed the validity of the data. "Different people will have different interpretations of the data," she said.
The survey had a 20-percent response rate, which may seem like only a representation of a small portion of the Princeton undergraduate community. But both Finnie and Bryant said awareness of harassment, its definition and its implications on campus are important results of the survey.
"It helps us understand what the lives of students are like on campus," Finnie said. "What is happening to the students outside the classroom has a huge impact on their lives inside the classroom."
SHARE offers free confidential counseling for victims and perpetrators in addition to their friends and residential advisers.
Bryant and the rest of the SHARE staff run prevention and peer-education programs in residential colleges, eating clubs and local middle and high schools.
"It is a big part of people's recovery process to have an opportunity for activism," Bryant said.
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