The Catskill Chronicle

Officials Representing Regions throughout the State Support the Governor’s Proposal to Combat Sexual Assault on College Campuses

NEW YORK STATE (March 15, 2015) – Governor Andrew M. Cuomo has announced that elected officials, including local council members, county legislators, town supervisors, village mayors and others, from all regions of the State have joined the "Enough is Enough" campaign to combat sexual violence on college and university campuses. This bipartisan group adds to the more than 40 city mayors and 17 of 18 county executives from across the State who last week joined the campaign.

Whoopi Goldberg also last week added her voice to "Enough is Enough" in support of the Governor’s proposal to combat on-campus sexual violence. The campaign is a call to action for members of the public to support and advocate for the passage of the Governor’s proposal to create the strongest protections in the country for college students, codifying uniform sexual assault prevention and response protocols for all colleges and universities, public and private, in New York State.

"Sexual assault on college and university campuses is a nationwide epidemic, and New York should lead the way to change how our schools protect their students from it and respond to it," Governor Cuomo said. "I’m proud to be joined by this bi-partisan group of elected officials from all levels of government and from every corner of the state who agree that “Enough is Enough” – we must take the strongest possible stand against sexual assault on our campuses, and the time to do it is now.”

In the Hudson Valley, the following elected officials have joined the Governor’s "Enough is Enough" campaign:

Hudson Valley

· Diana Cope, Mayor, Village of Margaretville
· Edward Blundell, Mayor, Village of Red Hook
· Aileen Rohr, Supervisor, Town of Hyde Park
· Micki Strawinski, Legislator, Dutchess County
· Scott Samuelson , Chairperson, Sullivan County Legislature
· Cora Edwards, Legislator, Sullivan County
· Paul Feiner, Supervisor, Town of Greenburgh
· Carl Chipman, Supervisor, Town of Rochester
· Susan Zimet, Supervisor, Town of New Paltz
· Catherine Borgia, Westchester County Board of Legislators Majority Leader, Ossining
· Lyndon Williams, Westchester County Board of Legislators Majority Whip, Mount Vernon
· Alfreda Williams, Westchester County Legislator and Chair of the Board of Legislators Community Services Committee, Greenburgh
· Ben Boykin, Westchester County Legislator, White Plains
· Pete Harckham, Legislator, North Salem
· Ken Jenkins, Westchester County Legislator, Yonkers
· Catherine Parker, Westchester County Legislator, Rye
· MaryJane Shimsky, Westchester County Legislator, Hastings-on-Hudson

The following 15 members of the New York Congressional Delegation have joined the Enough is Enough campaign:

· Senator Kirsten E. Gillibrand
· Congressman Charles B. Rangel
· Congressman Eliot Engel
· Congresswoman Nita M. Lowey
· Congressman José E. Serrano
· Congressman Jerrold Nadler
· Congresswoman Carolyn B. Maloney
· Congressman Gregory W. Meeks
· Congressman Joe Crowley
· Congressman Steve Israel
· Congressman Paul Tonko
· Congressman Tom Reed
· Congressman Sean Patrick Maloney
· Congresswoman Grace Meng
· Congresswoman Kathleen Rice

Members of the public wishing to state their support for Governor Cuomo’s proposal can do so at www.ny.gov/EnoughisEnough. They can also join the conversation online using #EnoughisEnough.

Governor Cuomo launched the campaign two weeks ago to build support for his proposal for colleges and universities to implement uniform prevention and response measures to combat sexual assaults on campus, which have already been adopted by the State University of New York. The Governor’s proposal will extend the SUNY policy and protections to colleges statewide and ensure that the State’s 1.2 million college students are protected with comprehensive and uniform procedures and guidelines, including affirmative consent and access to law enforcement.

The “Enough is Enough” campaign includes a new State Police hotline – 1-844-845-7269 – dedicated to reporting sexual assaults on college and university campuses. Specially-trained members of the State Police will be on-call 24 hours a day to respond to sexual assault calls throughout the State. The campaign also has a video featuring students, advocates and elected officials supporting the Governor’s policy to address sexual assault on college campuses. The video can be viewed here.

To promote the campaign and the importance of passing the Governor’s proposal, Lieutenant Governor Kathy Hochul has embarked on a statewide tour to bring “Enough is Enough” to college campuses across the State. She is meeting with members of the student body, faculty and administration as well as service providers and advocates for survivors of rape and sexual assault.
The Governor’s on-campus sexual assault prevention proposal includes the following components:

· A statewide definition of affirmative consent, defining consent as a clear, unambiguous, and voluntary agreement between the participants to engage in specific sexual activity;
· A statewide amnesty policy, to ensure that students reporting incidents of sexual assault or other sexual violence are granted immunity for certain campus policy violations, such as drug and alcohol use;
· A Sexual Violence Victim/Survivor Bill of Rights, which campuses will be required to distribute to all students in order to specifically inform sexual violence victims of their legal rights and how they may access appropriate resources. The Bill of Rights clearly states that students are given the right to know they can report sexual assaults to outside law enforcement, including the State Police;
· Comprehensive training requirements for administrators, staff, and students, including at new student orientations.

"Sexual assault on college campuses is a pervasive problem and too often it’s swept under the rug," Senator Kirsten Gillibrand said. "I commend Governor Cuomo and Lieutenant Governor Hochul for their leadership and efforts to spotlight and combat this issue in New York State. At the federal level we must flip the current incentives of a broken system to provide real accountability from higher education institutions and end sexual violence on college campuses."