February 17, 2016

Wednesday, February 17, 2016

Georgetown’s Sexual Assault and Misconduct Climate Survey

Dear Members of the Georgetown University Community:
 
I am writing to share an update on the Sexual Assault and Misconduct Climate Survey that our University launched for our students in late January.  We initiated this survey to gain important insights into the prevalence and incidence of sexual assault in our community, attitudes among students about the campus climate regarding sexual assault, and knowledge of university resources available to students.
 
The survey closed on Monday, February 15th and I am pleased to share that more than 7,900 students submitted responses.
 
I wish to express my gratitude to everyone who participated in this survey, and to all those across our community who helped to encourage a response rate of 51% for all survey participants, and a 62% response rate for undergraduate students. This is an extraordinary response—the average participation rate among the 27 colleges and universities who administered the same survey last year was 19%.
 
Your efforts will have a distinct impact on our ability to better address instances of sexual assault and strengthen our culture of care for all members of our community.
 
We look forward to sharing the results of the survey with our community in May and to working together on the best ways to use this data to inform our future efforts.
 
Thank you again for your engagement, and for your commitment to building an environment where all members of our community can thrive.
 
Sincerely,
 
John J. DeGioia