Assaults too high at UT Austin, A&M

University of Texas at Austin President Gregory L. Fenves gave the only acceptable response Monday to a new survey showing more than 18 percent of female undergraduates at his school report having been sexually assaulted since arriving on campus.

“One sexual assault is too many,” Fenves said in a news release.

Does it matter that the number at UT Austin was better than the 20 percent rate of reported assaults at 27 peert “tier one” schools in the Association of American Universities?

Not a bit. The number is too high.

Texas A&M University measured a little better than UT Austin in the survey, with 15 percent of undergraduate females reporting sexual assault. Still too high.

Both schools have launched initiatives against sexual assault.

The UT System has begun a $1.7 million effort at all of its schools. A&M has started a publicity campaign urging students to speak out against sexual assault and to intervene if another student appears at risk.

But both of the high-profile Texas institutions have a long way to go, the AAU survey showed.

At UT Austin, only 25.5 percent of female students who said they were raped also said they had reported the assault to authorities.

At A&M, just 23 percent of the females who said they were raped reported it to authorities.

A majority of students at both schools said they believe a report of assault would be taken seriously (62 percent at UT Austin and more than 73 percent at A&M).

But a lower percentage in each case, just 49 percent of students at UT Austin and 64 percent at A&M, said they believe the investigation would be a fair one.

“It is essential that we foster a campus that does not tolerate sexual assaults while strongly encouraging victims to come forward and report incidents,” said Fenves.

From A&M President Michael K. Young: “We have excellent processes in place for reporting and dealing with incidents of assault, but reporting alone is insufficient. As Aggies, it’s imperative we all work together to eliminate this intolerable behavior.”

Both have to do better.

This story was originally published September 22, 2015 at 6:02 PM with the headline "Assaults too high at UT Austin, A&M."