assault on college campuses is making headlines across the country.

It comes as a former student at Cornell University filed a lawsuit earlier this month accusing the school and local law enforcement of mishandling her report alleging she was gang raped a fraternity house for hours.

The men are being dubbed the Cornell 7.

And according to the lawsuit, allegedly, they invited others in a fraternity group chat to join them.

The New York prosecutor has since reopened her case, but it has set off a firestorm of commentary about how universities in society at large respond to these cases and how survivors are supported.

Joining us now are and Kirchner a professor of criminal justice at Roosevelt University.

Note that Kay for Brewers Hoffer and and we have Kate, the Morris offer executive director of the Chicago Alliance Against Exploitation as well as Carry Ward executive director of the Illinois Coalition Against Assault.

Thanks to all of you for joining us.

So, Kate, the starting with you first on the topic of, you know, the lawsuit in the Cornell case, why is that legal action important?

It's incredibly important because thanks to the student journalists and the lawyer.

>> Who stood with this survivor and brought this case to the public's attention.

We are once again getting a window into how rape is mostly responded to by institutions like universities and the state itself.

Look, the survivors deserve better.

That survivor.

And if the cut deserve better, but what is happening, what is being revealed about her experience really is not the exception.

It is the epitome of what survivors go through for the one out of 4 women who are watching this program right now, her survivors of assault and the one out of 6 men for survivors of harm.

I can guarantee you that vanish Lee.

Few of them have seen any kind of response.

>> Outside of from rape crisis centers like those that are funded by the Illinois Coalition Against Assault mostly what survivors get is they're ignored.

They're rebuffed.

They are disbelieved and and our society institutions like universities failed to do the things they can like it is really not rocket science.

And in fact, we've recently had an example of how a university and a criminal legal system can react quickly when people on their Campus Inc engage in the grating conduct.

Just ask the the young men who were arrested expelled for engaging in hazing at the University of Bad of Wisconsin.

Madison.

Institutions have the capacity respond and we don't need cooler penalties.

We need more consistent repercussions and what challenges do people face with the title 9 process when they're reporting assault?

>> They face a myriad of challenges from, you know, having the reporting process not be very survivor centered and trauma informed.

But most of the time, it's the length of the process that really takes people.

You know, by surprise.

I think they think, okay, I've made this report.

Something's going to be done and let's say they do get a sympathetic, you know, title 9 coordinator who takes the report.

There are, you know, a lot of very sympathetic, very good people working title 9 office us.

I don't want to, you know, denigrate them.

However, the way the institution you know, as keep us as this is really, you know, throughout the whole higher education system, the way they have set up the process is too the sort of drag things out not take certain evidence.

Survivors report having fighting like a lot of mistakes in the paperwork that whatever they do, get access to things like that, that just show the survivor that the process is sort of the punishment and then it's not focused on their well-being.

It's more of compliance process.

It's more of sort of containing the problem.

we also know that, you what do we know actually about what how often cases reported?

>> They're extremely underreported.

I wanted to render, but, yes, they're extremely underreported.

I'm the majority of of survivors.

Do not report.

>> So that is that is always, you know, that's and I think that's been the case for a long time.

Now hasn't really changed.

Carrie, what resources does I casa coordinate for survivors of violence?

>> Sure.

So there are number of resources that are available through.

I cast a rape crisis centers.

So I causes a network of 31 rape crisis centers located throughout Illinois.

So there are primary offices and then many of those offices are expanded through satellite sites in neighboring counties, our communities all of those sites offer.

24 hour response to assault.

So someone goes to the hospital and wants to make a report.

Rape crisis centers can respond to that hospital, provide an advocate to help support the survivor through direct evidence collection kit can a system that they decide they want to make a report to law enforcement and it can also system through that law enforcement process.

If they want to report to the police and then they want to go forward with going through the court system and they can have an accompaniment through all of that.

And additionally, they can have counseling services, counseling and therapy and be available through rape crisis centers and also same kind of services available through community institutional prevention, education, professional training, institutional advocacy, working with institution to talk about the survivors that within their midst and what they can do as organizations to best serve survivors.

So it's not only the one-on-one assistance to survivors, but helping institutions respond to assaults their places as well.

All of those Paul under the auspices of what the work is, every crisis centers too.

Okay.

But what legal resources are available for survivors?

Well, in the state of Illinois, there's one legal services provider that provides free legal representation.

>> 2 student survivors who want a lawyer by their side as they seek to get their school to respond appropriately to assault.

And that is my organization case.

It is.

And we are one of the very few organizations in the nation that provide this kind of legal representation and it's it's heartbreaking because that that has prefer the professor has already indicated the length of time that universities take is extraordinary.

It is frequently the case that the clients that we serve.

Well, C 5 months are more pass between the time that they tell the school that they would like to see a process by which the school can determine, you know, did something that happened in should be do something about it.

And yet again, we know from the way schools respond to incidents of hazing that they have the capacity to very quickly go.

There is behavior here that does not meet the standard that we would like to see.

I find it continually distressing that we understand that that young people spend so much time and effort trying to prove that they're worthy of getting into an institution and then fact most institutions say that it's really hard to get in here.

And then the second they get in.

Well, you know, if they if they treat a fraternity brother badly, though they're probably out.

But it's the Wild West Schools are far too reluctant to remind there's their their students.

That being a student is a privilege and and losing your opportunity to be a student at the school is not and going to ruin their life.

I mean, we live in a country where it's very clear that credible and even proven allegations of assault heard just a speed bump on the road to the highest offices and most land.

So it we we we have seen some some people in some of the higher offices be accused of such instance instances and >> how can universities, though, improved their process for investigating assault?

>> Well, you know, I do think that some pretty radical change needs to happen to the processees.

I have seen better outcomes when faculty senates are involved or when it's more akin to like labor rights case.

Unlike with graduate employees and things like that, graduate students who are also working for the university and what those have in common, I think, is just more people.

Aware of the situation, putting their eyes on it and coming together to demand more from the university.

So I guess I'm actually not sure that universities.

We'll improve.

I just I think they've had a lot of time to do that.

And I do think that it just feels very deliberate at this point.

And so I think it might actually be more up to professors.

Students to demand more from their universities and to demand a better process.

>> so coming off of what we just heard and I'm not optimistic that universities will do better.

How can state laws protect victims of assault on college campuses?

>> tell you one thing that that because is working on along with a a wonderful group support legislators and allies and community partners is looking at an amendment to the preventing violence in Higher Education Act.

You know that at current currently exists, guiding universities and responding 2 students.

And one of the things that we're looking at is trying to create some additional protections within that law and what that's one of the ways that we can increase the accountability for universities, increase the safety for students.

And it's legislation that has had bipartisan support in the Illinois General Assembly that a version of the bill has passed in the House, a version of the of the amendment has passed in the Senate and we are hoping bring you know, opportunity perhaps through the work of the task force that continues to work on it right now.

Maybe be able to bring a version of that to veto session, be able to move that forward.

I think that's that continued effort at accountability to say it's not just a matter being aware of what's happening on campus, but it's doing something about it.

And I think that this is a campus focus issue, but I think it's also a societal and that we can turn our backs on what's happening, section legislation that that will be keeping an eye on and have you back.

If it's something to talk about.

That is where