The Arizona State University victim advocacy program from the ASU Police Department has been relocated to campus following a student suggestion, President Michael Crow announced during a recent student forum.

The forum, hosted by the Associated Students of ASU, encouraged all students to come and ask questions. The questions submitted covered a variety of topics, including sexual violence support resources, the pandemic, and tuition prices.

Crow said that he wanted to “educate students in the concept of the word ‘yes,’” at the student forum.

“No other word. No means no and no words also mean no. We’ve been trying to work so everyone understands this and also that a yes can be converted into a ‘no’ at any point,” Crow said.

One student asked about the support services for sexual violence victims and where students can access those expanded resources.

According to the ASU website, “The Arizona State University Police Department Victim Advocate ensures crime victims on any ASU campus, witnesses and family members receive free, confidential support.”

With the Victim Advocate Department relocated after a recent outcry campus police didn’t properly handle assault complaints, students expressed a variety of opinions on the modernization of the program.

Ryan Bender, a student at ASU, said that he “wasn’t aware that the Victim Advocacy Department existed or that it was being relocated to campus.”

The service center, which has the main focus to assist struggling students, may have flown under the radar while residing at the police station. Bender also said that he “likes that it is being relocated to campus because it offers more efficient use of the program to students.”

Bender said that he believed that “the student resource should have always been on campus.”

Students hoped that the victim advocacy program relocation would encourage a greater number of victims to feel comfortable enough to seek help.

“I think more people will come forward and utilize this department because I think there is more of a sense of victim-blaming when having to go to a police station. It makes a victim of any form of assault feel like they’ve done something wrong or committed a crime. By putting it on campus, it creates less stress on the victims,” Bender said.

Another student, Kierra Atterberry, was also unaware of the program.

“I think it should have always been on campus,” she said.
Once again, students brought up the practicality of the department having residency at ASUPD.

“It makes it way more convenient for ASU students to get the support they need, and I think more people will come forward now that the process feels safer and more confidential,” Atterberry said.

She also said that she has hopes for a brighter future on campus with the repositioning of this resource.

“I think now with the relocation of this department, ASU will do a better job supporting victims. But I also think that people just don’t know about the support options ASU offers,” Atterberry said.

Editor’s note: Ms. Presson is a journalism student at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism at Arizona State University.