UC Students Address UC Regents on Sexual Violence

Led by Alejandra Melgoza, Melissa Vasquez, and Alexa Weyrick, and representing UCSB student survivors of sexual violence, nowUCSB will describe to the Regents the ineffective and retraumatizing handling of Title IX sexual violence cases at UC, Santa Barbara, highlighting that it took a 13hour sitin protest on May 13th before the Chancellor paid attention to student grievances. nowUCSB will describe how survivors are forced to continuously defend themselves in a system that gives near impunity to violent perpetrators, even after finding perpetrators guilty via Title IX, and outline their demands for reforming sexual violence case handling at the UC.

The UC Regents and university administrations must listen to survivors regarding sexual violence, given the growing state and national conversations around sexual violence, the 2013 Isla Vista massacre that largely targeted women, UCSB’s mishandling of its students’ safety, and the fact that nearly 1 in 5 US female students survives sexual violence in college.

Student survivors of sexual violence must not be retraumatized by UC administrations that repeatedly fail to take adequate measures to prevent sexual assault. All students must be protected from violence of all forms. The mistakes of the UCSB administration must not be allowed to be repeated by other UC campuses or by the UC Regents on a statewide level.

nowUCSB therefore invites to the UC Regents Meeting, at Mission Bay Conference Center at UCSF , 1675 Owens St, San Francisco CA 94158 on Thurs. May 21, 830 AM , all local and state media outlets, UCSB and other UC campus administration, women’s and human rights advocates, activists, and especially other students concerned about college sexual violence.

Survivors of sexual violence have been ignored for far too long. It is time we listen to and learn from them as we reform sexual violence programs at the UC, beginning with learning from the failures UCSB. #nowUCsb

For more information:
Twitter: @nowUCsb
Email: nowUCsantabarbara [at] gmail.com