Sexual assault is defined by www.justice.gov as being “any type of sexual contact or behavior that occurs without the explicit consent of the recipient. Falling under the definition of sexual assault are sexual activities as forced sexual intercourse, forcible sodomy, child molestation, incest, fondling, and attempted rape”.

Because of the variety of meanings the term carries, The University Daily Kansan at Kansas University requested files from the university that would share context of the 168 reported cases of sexual assault in 2014, more than double the number filed in 2012, to create an accurate database and map the trends in sexual assault.The Mentor editorial board met to discuss the actions and motives of each party and determine whether the university is justified in its denial of the records.

The UDK as a publication has an obligation to report accurate, relevant information to the students of KU over what ever topics they deem of importance. The university isn’t in a legal position under the Kansas Open Records Act to deny public records to anyone, let alone the media.

They have made claims releasing this information, that doesn’t even include names, will violate privacy and discourage students from reporting sexual assault in the future. Not only is that not an irrelevant opinion because of KORA, we believe a more likely reason for withholding the information is an attempt by the university to keep attention away from the number of cases that seems to only be rising.

When sexual assault rates on a campus raise the fear is that enrollment numbers will fall, which of course will mean less money coming into the university. The UDK feels the best way to prevent future assault is to provide information to the students. The university’s “fear” that releasing and publishing information would discourage students from reporting attacks seems completely unjustified. If anything, it will encourage victims to report such incidents by making them realize they aren’t alone, and maybe if they see the university actually making attempts to resolve rather than hide the issue they would be reporting assault in the first place.