At the beginning of last semester, a group of concerned students came together to voice their concern about the lack of discussion surrounding sexual assault on campus. It is their belief that fostering an environment that is conducive to conversation about these sensitive issues is the first and most important step in curbing the incidence rate of sexual assault here at Amherst.

Their concern has since manifested itself in a project entitled Amherst College Coming Clean-a movement working towards ending sexual assault on college campuses around the country. We, the Association of Amherst Students (AAS), have approved this letter because we agree that this is an issue that we have too often ignored. To address this issue, we fully endorse this project as an encompassing effort to bring sexual assault prevention to the forefront of campus dialogue and organizing.

Coming Clean will be conducting a survey about student attitudes and experiences regarding sexual assault on campus, releasing a publication of student stories, artwork and poetry about their experiences and creating focus groups and general conversations on campus about these issues.

Their idea is simple: By creating spaces in which students can anonymously but honestly discuss their experiences on campus, we hope to create a community in which these often silent crimes can find a voice without the threat of serious repercussions. The goal of this movement is not to point fingers, but rather to start conversations with the hope that this dialogue will eventually lead to a better, healthier, happier campus as a whole. We, the AAS, want students to know if they have experienced negative sexual experiences on campus, whether acting as their source or their recipient, they are not alone.

Our ultimate goal is to eradicate sexual assault entirely at Amherst and eventually to become a leader in this movement for other college campuses around the country. We recognize this is a goal we can only achieve in the long term but hope that the smaller, more attainable projects will spark the necessary activism to create a sexual assault-free campus.

In short, Coming Clean is working toward a totally comprehensive, student organized examination of rape, sexual assault and sexual harassment on campus. We encourage the student body to support, participate in and carefully examine the conversations that arise from this project. Without your involvement, we cannot achieve the campus environment that we believe is possible.