Gov. Andrew Cuomo made a rare appearance before the State University of New York Board of Trustees to urge them to pass a system wide set of policies on how to respond to sexual assault and rape on campus.
Cuomo convinced the SUNY Board of Trustees to adopt a new system wide policy that helps prevent sexual assault. It includes a better definition of what it means to consent to sexual activity, immunity for students who report an assault or a rape, and a new Sexual Assault Victims’ Bill of Rights.
The governor, saying that there’s a “disturbing epidemic of sexual violence in this country,” says the state university system can be a leader in finding solutions.
“This is a societal problem,” said Cuomo. “This is Harvard and Yale and Princeton, as much as it is Albany, Buffalo and Oswego.”
Cuomo says the issue is personal for him. He has two daughters in college, and one more in high school.
