The Iowa State University Police Department (ISUPD) launched its annual spring campaign this month, coinciding with Sexual Assault Awareness Month. 

For ISUPD, one of the main focuses for sexual assault awareness month is increasing awareness and education regarding the Clery Act. The act is a consumer protection law that aims to provide transparency around campus crime policy and statistics, according to the Clery Act website.

“We still need to continue to educate because we have many people saying, ‘Oh, this is a police problem,’ no, it’s not a police problem, it is a society problem,” ISUPD Assistant Chief Carrie Jacobs said. “It’s everybody’s problem, and we are all required to be a part of the solution.”

Since 2017, the department’s spring campaign has focused on mental health awareness. The campaign originated as a response to the 2004 Veishea riots. When the university announced the cancellation of the 2005 Veishea celebrations, ISUPD wanted to create a space to promote partying safely. 

“Clearly, our off-campus parties were a big concern for university leadership,” Jacobs said. “So we asked ourselves, what can we do to help control it without coming on with a heavy law enforcement approach?”

After having such conversations, the first annual spring campaign was born with the focus of partying smart. Once ISUPD Chief Michael Newton stepped into his role in 2017, he wanted to change the focus to be more mental health-oriented. 

“We were recognizing even more that our mental health calls for service were starting to climb,” Jacobs said. “Mental health affects everybody; it doesn’t matter if you’re a first-year freshman or a faculty member who has been here for many years, mental health affects us because it is part of the human condition.”

The spring campaign is typically held toward the end of the spring semester when students begin to experience the stress that comes along with concluding the academic year. Historically, mental health calls for service start to increase as the weather gets nicer and students head into the final stretch of classes. 

Every year, the campaign has a new focus when it comes to mental health awareness, and this year, the focus is to educate students on the new resources available to them. 

“With a lot of our materials, we’re trying to promote all of the new and different ways that we can help our community access resources that they need,” ISUPD Outreach Intern Brody Norton said. “Cyclone support is one of the resources that’s changing and the Iowa State Safe App is another app that’s new for a lot of students that we’re trying to push for them to have access to.”

Students can expect several outreach events later in April and May, a few of which will include the therapy dogs. Officers are looking forward to opportunities to engage with students where they get to talk authentically, person to person. 

“We’re trying to remind folks that yes, school is important, but you’re a whole human, and we want you to take care of your whole self,” Engagement and Inclusion Officer Natasha Greene said. 

The department also wants to highlight April being sexual assault awareness month and amplify other resources on campus that students have access to. 

ISUPD kicked off the sexual assault awareness month by hosting a Start by Believing event. Start by Believing is a national campaign that aims to end the silence and change the way society responds to sexual assault.

When a sexual assault occurs on campus, students receive an email informing them of the incident. Many students find these emails triggering and have expressed their concerns to the department. However, Iowa State University is federally mandated to give the warning as part of the Clery Act. 

“Sometimes we get students who call in and say, please take my name off the distribution list for this,” ISUPD Clery Compliance Officer Alice Wisner said. “We don’t have that option; it’s federally mandated.”

While these emails may be disheartening to receive, the department urges students to look at the other side, which is students feel confident enough to speak up. 

“We understand that people might perceive that as these crimes are happening more often,” Norton said. “But it’s also a recognition that when you see those reports come out, it’s because somebody had the confidence to report that offense against them.” 

Wisner has worked at the department for over six years and has seen the trends change over time of students feeling more comfortable speaking up against these crimes. 

“When I first started working here in this role, the reports that we would get usually were ‘This happened to me last semester’ or ‘This happened to me last year,’” Wisner said. “After the Me Too movement, it’s more of a trend of ‘This happened to me last night’ or ‘This happened to me last weekend and I want it reported.’” 

ISUPD recognizes that in many spaces, it would be more beneficial for students to hear about sexual assault prevention from someone other than the police. While some of the department’s staff participates in event planning and the educational components, much of the programming comes from other organizations. 

Campus confidential resources students can access include student counseling, the Thielen Student Health Center, the Margaret Sloss Center for Women and Gender Equity and The Center for LGBTQIA+ Student Success.