Where romance meets legal issues

As you prepare for Valentine's Day with someone you're romantically interested in, we encourage you to learn and work with campus organizations to understand what healthy relationships look like. Besides learning about where the law and romance "hook up," we wanted to share additional information that can assist you while you are at UAA.

Here at the University Police Department, or UPD, we work closely with the UAA Health Promotions and Wellness team, the Office of Equity and Compliance, Residence Life, the Dean of Students Office, the CARE Team, and the Dating Violence Sexual Assault (DVSA) Coalition for Change to promote a culture of respect and support for our entire university community.

When discussing education and prevention, UPD offers a variety of presentations and everyday conversations with people to promote prevention programs that address interpersonal violence issues which impact the university community and Alaska at large. 

If you have never heard the term "interpersonal violence" before, it commonly refers to physical, sexual, emotional, and psychological abuse. From a criminal standpoint, it loosely encompasses the crimes of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking. These crimes have no place in our society, and we encourage you to report them to UPD or a campus resource if you suspect or are a victim/survivor.

Most of the UAA community is familiar with the Timely Warning Notifications sent by UPD, informing the community of a reported sexual assault or stalking. However, you might not know how this came about. 

The Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act, commonly known as the Clery Act, is a federal consumer protection law that requires institutions of higher education in the U.S. to disclose safety information and statistics for campuses. It is named after Jeanne Clery, who was a student at Lehigh University in Pennsylvania. She was raped and murdered in her residence hall room in 1986, and her family lobbied for Congress to require institutions to publish safety information to help students, employees, and families make informed decisions regarding their safety.

UPD trains its officers on many subjects and recently hosted training by the national organization Stalking Prevention, Awareness & Resource Center, or SPARC, on stalking, Jan. 30 and 31. 

Alaska law enforcement officers from around the state participated in learning current best practices in conducting investigations on stalking and related crimes. They also learned ways to better support the victims of such criminal behaviors throughout the criminal investigative process.

Other university offices, such as the Dean of Students and the Office of Equity and Compliance (Title IX), perform administrative conduct investigations related to whether university policy was violated, which are different from the criminal investigations conducted by UPD. However, UPD does assist those offices with safety planning for individuals involved in those investigations, if requested.

Bringing the subject full circle to the overall theme of this Northern Light Sex Edition, let's talk about consent. 

On Jan. 1, 2023, the State of Alaska changed the law as it relates to consent towards sexual activity. Specifically, the new definition is best explained by Standing Together Against Rape (STAR): 

“…promotes the concept of affirmative consent, or ‘yes means yes’. Essentially, it means that both parties involved in a sexual encounter must clearly and verbally communicate their enthusiastic consent at every step of the sexual act or activity” (https://www.staralaska.com/hb325).

So, for this Valentine's Day, make sure you and your partner work towards a healthy relationship by being honest and respectful with each other, setting boundaries, and obtaining and giving consent before and during any sexual activity.

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UAA Web Links:

CARE Team https://www.uaa.alaska.edu/students/care-team/index.cshtml

UAA Clery Resources and Information https://www.uaa.alaska.edu/students/dean-of-students/clery-act/index.cshtml

Dean of Students https://www.uaa.alaska.edu/students/dean-of-students/index.cshtml

DVSA (https://www.uaa.alaska.edu/students/health-safety/health-counseling-center/dvsa.cshtml)

Health Promotion and Wellness https://www.uaa.alaska.edu/students/health-safety/health-counseling-center/promotion-wellness.cshtml

Office of Equity and Compliance https://www.uaa.alaska.edu/about/equity-and-compliance/index.cshtml

Residence Life https://www.uaa.alaska.edu/residence-life/index.cshtml)

University of Alaska Employee Assistance Program https://www.alaska.edu/hr/benefits/support/employee-assistance.php)

University Police https://www.uaa.alaska.edu/about/administrative-services/departments/university-police-department/index.cshtml

External Links:

STAR https://www.staralaska.com/

SPARC https://www.stalkingawareness.org/