Educational Programs promoting awareness of sexual misconduct

Oklahoma State University’s sexual misconduct (including rape) prevention efforts involve staff members from the entire community.  Individuals representing the OSU Police Department, Housing and Residential Life, University Counseling Services, Academic Affairs, Fraternity and Sorority Affairs, Student Conduct Education and Administration, and University Health Services, individually and collectively, provide training programs, presentations, and workshops to any interested individuals or groups.  Members of the OSU community also work closely with off-campus agencies such as the District Attorney’s Office and Stillwater Domestic Violence Services.

Program topics generally include stranger rape, date and acquaintance rape, rapist characteristics, rape trauma syndrome, and victim recovery.  An increasing number of presentations, explaining the male’s role in sexual assaults, are directed to all-male audiences such as fraternities and athletic teams.

To request a presentation, contact Student Conduct Education and Administration at 405-744-5470 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Procedure for students to follow if a sex offense occurs:

The Stillwater community is very fortunate to have a Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner (SANE) program at Stillwater Medical Center.  This special service assures a victim of sexual assault some degree of privacy and treatment by a specially trained nurse.  The nurse will perform the examination and stay with the victim throughout the treatment process.  Stillwater Medical Center, Wings of Hope, and law enforcement collaborate to provide service and care to survivors of sexual assault.  The OSU Student Health Center does not have the SANE program and does not provide emergency care.

If you become a victim of sexual misconduct, the following procedures are recommended:

1.  Do what you need to do to feel safe; get to a safe place or contact someone with whom you are comfortable.  Stillwater has a 24-hour Rape Crisis Line (405-624-3020) to meet these needs.  The Rape Hotline worker will give advice and discuss options about how to proceed.  The following are recommended:

a. Do not shower, bathe, douche, change or destroy clothes; do not eat, drink, smoke or chew gum; do not take any medications.  Preserving evidence is critical for criminal prosecution. If you do take evidence (i.e., sheets, etc), you need to take it in a brown paper bag (not plastic). Plastic may contaminate evidence. Although an individual may not want to prosecute immediately after the incident, that choice will not be available without credible evidence.  The evidence collected can also be useful in the campus disciplinary process.

b.  Do not straighten the room or place of the incident.

2.  The Rape Hotline worker will encourage you to go to Stillwater Medical Center to receive care for any physical injuries that may have occurred.  While in the emergency room, treatment will be offered for sexually transmitted diseases and medication will be given offered to prevent pregnancy.

3.  The Rape Hotline worker will dispatch the sexual assault nurse examiner (SANE), a police officer, and a rape volunteer advocate to the exam site.  They should all arrive at about the same time.

4.  Upon arrival at SMC you will be taken to a private exam area.  The nurse, the advocate, and police officer will be directed to this same location. Only the nurse and possibly the advocate, if requested, will be in the exam room during the forensic gynecological exam. The police, nurse, and advocate will meet in another private room afterwords or beforehand to take your statement, discuss resources, and answer questions.

5.  If you desire the extra support, the rape advocate will be available to support you throughout the entire exam which will be performed by the nurse. The advocate will give you a packet of toiletries.  You may clean up in the exam suite.  A change of clothing will be provided if your clothing is kept for evidence.

6.  If a family member or significant other comes to the hospital, the advocate may call a backup advocate to support this person while you undergo the exam.

7.  The advocate will provide a packet of written materials to you.  This material contains information about common reactions to rape, follow-up medical needs, and support services.  The advocate will encourage you to access any support services that you want/feel ready to utilize, such as counseling services available from Wings of Hope (formerly known as Stillwater Domestic Violence Services), the OSU Student Counseling Center, or other community resources.

8.  Reporting the Sexual Misconduct:

a.  It is strongly encouraged that you report the sexual misconduct to police (OSU:  744-6523 for on-campus incidents; Stillwater:  372-4171).  This does not commit you to prosecute but will allow the gathering of information and evidence.  The information and evidence maintain future options regarding criminal prosecution, University disciplinary actions, and/or civil actions against the perpetrator.  Your information can be helpful in supporting other reports and/or preventing further rapes (even anonymous reports are somewhat useful).  Names of rape victims are not voluntarily released to the media.

b.  If you contact police, an officer can meet you at the scene or at another designated location to take your initial statement. (If you get yourself to Stillwater Medical Center or call the Rape Crisis line, the police will be called for you.)  The police officer’s first concern will be your physical and emotional health.  The police will ask you for a description of the offender, the scene of the incident, the direction of travel, and a description of the vehicle used by the offender, if any.

9.  Reporting an incident and choosing to prosecute, filing a complaint through the University discipline process, or filing a civil action are separate steps.  When you file a report with the police or with Student Conduct Education and Administration, you are not obligated to continue with legal proceedings or University disciplinary action.  University staff can assist a student in notifying authorities or appropriate University personnel if a student wishes to pursue charges.

Resources for Counseling

A sexual misconduct experience can be very emotionally disruptive and it takes time to come to terms with such a major stress.  In addition to support that may be found in family and friends, the following agencies have professional counselors who can be of assistance, provide further information on the subject of sexual misconduct, and make referrals to private clinicians in the community.

• The OSU Student Counseling Center: 320 Student Union, 405-744-5472.  Oklahoma State University has professional staff persons in the University Counseling Services that can serve as survivor advocates.  You may make an appointment to meet with a counselor and speak freely with her/him, knowing that they will hold what you say in confidence, as legally permitted.
• The OSU Psychological Services Center: 118 North Murray Hall, 405-744-5975.
• Wings of Hope: 24-Hour Crisis Line: 405-624-3020, 3800 N Washington Street, 377-2344

The above-listed resources offer counseling and referral services to clinicians on-campus and in the community.  Other private clinicians are listed in the yellow pages under Psychologists.

The university is committed to creating an environment that encourages victims of sexual misconduct to come forward and report their victimization and make every effort to safeguard the identities of students who seek help and/or report sexual misconduct. You need to be aware that different individuals you may contact for assistance following an incident of sexual misconduct may have different responsibilities with regard to confidentiality, depending on their position. Please note that under state law, some individuals can assure the victim of confidentiality (for example, counselors, health care providers, spiritual/religious counselors, certified victims’ advocates). In general, however, any other university employee cannot guarantee complete confidentiality, unless specifically provided by state law. As is the case with all colleges and universities, the university must balance the needs of the individual victim with its obligation to protect the safety and well being of the community at large. Depending on the seriousness of the alleged incident, a college security alert may be posted throughout the campus. The alerts never contain information identifying victims or assailants.

Interim Safety Measures

At the request of the victim, Oklahoma State University will attempt to arrange for the victim or the accused to change his/her living situation, switch academic course sections, adjust university work schedules, or take other action that designed to protect the safety of the victim, if such measures are reasonably available.