Dear UE

I am writing this letter as an inquiry and a request for support in what I believe to be a shared passion for creating safer and more supportive environments. I am currently in my second semester at the University of Evansville, and I wanted to reach out in curiosity and ask about how we promote campus safety and sexual health on campus and virtually. I will start by disclosing that I personally have yet to encounter any promotion relative to addressing sexual health and safety, and I only became aware of the Project SafeSpace Initiative because I googled the university in combination with “IPV.” From my perspective, I wonder if there is more that could be done?

Currently, Indiana does not require comprehensive sex education to be taught within the school systems and state law currently specifies that sex education, if taught, is not required to be inclusive or instructional to all persons or safe sex practices but instead is only allowed to be taught through the standard instruction of abstinence only, apart from marriage. Essentially, some high school graduating students in Indiana will enter into college life possibly never having received any form of sex education at all, likely leading to higher rates of unplanned pregnancy which is tied to a large portion of female school dropout rates and increased chances of contracting sexually transmitted infections or disease. Furthermore, considering one in three high school students will likely have had sex prior to graduating high school, and almost 80% of college students report engaging in partner related sexual activity, there may very likely exist a gap in needed inclusive and comprehensive sexual education for individuals starting college at the University of Evansville.

Ineffective and inaccurate sex education, one could argue, ultimately amounts to sex-based discrimination. For example, not addressing differing forms of safe sex practices, omitting lessons about consent, providing information on how to identify Intimate Partner Violence (IVP) and resources to help respond, and not discussing reproductive health and menstruation can cause negative impacts to students inequitably, with many of negative consequences affecting women and minorities. Good quality sex education must be provided through a racial justice lens, be nongender stereotyping, and inclusive of all student’s sexual diversity. As racial justice is central to the sexual health and rights of all people, reproductive and sexual health rights often disproportionately affect minorities and Persons of Color negatively as they are denied information about their bodies and how to keep them safe. Furthermore, efforts should be made to address racism as it shows up in sex education efforts. Improving sex education and its delivery should be about identifying racial, gender, and sexual orientation barriers and continually and consistently evaluating the policies and practices from which they extend.

Comprehensive sexual education is about overcoming such barriers to provide all students who are disproportionally affected by ineffective, inaccurate, or entirely absent sexual education programs with the knowledge and resources needed to keep their bodies and overall wellbeing safe and healthy. Comprehensive sexuality education focuses on respect, inclusion, nondiscrimination, equality, empathy, responsibility and reciprocity and has been shown to delay sexual activity, increase safe sex practices, lower unintended pregnancies and sexually transmitted infections, increase knowledge an improve attitudes related to sexual and reproductive health and behaviors (UNESCO, 2026).

Comprehensive sexuality education is a positive step toward inclusively helping all people to be responsible and safe with their bodies and in their actions, and the college environment provides an important opportunity to allow for students to gain access to vital health- and self-care knowledge. This is not only a vast opportunity to educate but to also to be proactive in assisting others to lower their risk of harm and increase their ability to understand the options and resources available within their community.

Many college students do not have a consistent or coherent way of defining the action of sexual consent. This likely contributes to the U.S. Department of Justice’s existing sexual assault statistics reporting women on college campuses experience three times the risk of sexual assault, and male-identifying college students are 78% more likely be raped or experience sexual assault in comparison to their peers outside of college. Furthermore, the National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey indicated that 45% of women and 40% of men reported first experiencing intimate partner violence between the age of 18-24. This age range is critical as it encompasses the vast majority of college students. Additionally, the CDC reports that one in four college students reportedly has a sexually transmitted infection, with more than half of all new STI diagnoses occurring within people between the ages of 15-24.

Considering the risk and prevalence of violence and harm, college students are vulnerable; however, within this campus there are people who already experience lived disadvantage and marginalization, which raises the importance of ensuring safety and acting proactively. The Project SafeSpace Initiative and sexual health and safety education is knowledge no one should have to seek out as a response to harm, but instead it should exist as knowledge they already had to make the most informed decisions regarding their lives and their bodies.

It is imperative that our campus be able to provide all students with culturally sensitive and competent comprehensive sexual education as needed and/or desired for each student. The university also has an obligation to its campus to increase social justice initiatives by providing sexual education efforts that are evaluative to reducing gender and racial biases, stereotyping, and discrimination to serve all individuals within the college community to the highest possible standard of consideration and care. I believe we have a great start with the Project SafeSpace Initiative.

This letter is not intended to scrutinize, blame, or degrade, but to open the conversation as to how improvements can be made to progressively foster within these walls our intended mission to empower students to think critically, act bravely, serve responsibly, and live meaningfully in a changing world. My letter merely asks that we examine how we are offering sexual education to

our students to love and care for themselves and each other in order for them to best function within the college environment and beyond. How are we providing, evaluating, and reforming this education to protect and serve our students in an inclusive manner? And, lastly, what do we plan to do in an effort to maintain inclusivity and minimize harm to marginalized groups on a continuum? More than anything, this letter is meant to start the discussion in hopes that community collaboration sparks growth and progress toward a more educated, confident, and empowered student body.

Thank you for your time.

Best Regards,

Cristin Colston