Each week The Orion prints a police blotter, highlighting the crimes that were reported both on campus and around the community. All cases are cited directly from the University Police Department and the Chico Police Department. In last week’s edition, two cases of rape, one case of sexual battery and one case of sexual assault were reported. Both rapes were cited from University Police. One rape report was lacking an address, which is required by law to include. All rapes and assaults cited from University Police reported last week from crimes that happened last semester.

With so many rapes and sexual assaults being reported in one week, why hasn’t the university done anything about it? No emails, no public statements, no prevention tips. Nothing. As community members, we have a right to transparency. We have a right to safety. We have no choice but to put our trust into our university, our police. Although these cases happened late last year, when they are reported it is the job of the university to take action. It might be because Chico State is trying to hold up its reputation, it might be because the university has more important things to do, it might be because it is unaware. We don’t know.

A conversation needs to be started about sexual assault and rape on college campuses. We need to stop pretending it doesn’t happen and do something about it. We need to have honest conversations about rape culture and how we treat victims who do come forward. We need more transparency and until students, faculty and staff receive that transparency, our lack of trust in the university and University Police is going to dwindle. We have a right to know more.

Kendall George can be reached at [email protected] or @kendallmgeorge on Twitter.