During every discussion on the issue of sexual assault, the heart of the issue lies at the definition of consent. Since the different types of consent are so many different shades of gray, defining consent and sexual assault becomes difficult. After all, the simplest definition of sexual assault is a sexual act that occurs without the consent of one of the parties involved. But what is consent? And what is a sexual act? All of the issues surrounding this topic stem from each individual’s different definition of the two.

Although I did greatly enjoy the “50 Shades of Consent” deliberation on Wednesday, I would have liked them to discuss the ambiguity in actually defining sexual assault and consent. Most of the discussion revolved around preventing sexual assault, educating students about sexual assault, and taking action against this issue, they failed to accurately define the act itself. For one person, sexual assault could be just an intimate touch, while someone else might consider that same touch to be fine. As one of the guests at the deliberation said, the crux of this whole matter lies in the definition of consent.

By its very nature, sexual assault proves difficult to prevent. However, after over an hour of constructive deliberation, our group developed some actions to be taken against sexual assault. For example, improving the Safe and Aware program, adding a mandatory session with real life survivors and perpetrators of sexual assault, and requiring members of Greek life to attend information sessions about sexual assault are all plausible remedies that we discussed during the deliberation.

In addition to the preventative measures that we talked about, I think that another essential aspect of the issue of sexual assault involves the aftermath. No matter how effective the university’s preventative measures may be, sexual assaults will always be an issue on college campuses. Penn State must have programs in place to help the victims and the perpetrators of sexual assault to recover and learn from the incident.

The “50 Shades of Consent” deliberation was both informative and insightful. While I do believe that several of the solutions we discussed could really do some good in preventing and ameliorating the crime of sexual assault, I also think that sexual assault is a result of a failure of personal responsibility and respect. A man or woman who truly assaults someone else lacks moral empathy and respect for others. Perhaps instead of installing more blue lights or allowing police to have guns, Penn State faculty, advisors, and administrators, should lead by example to instill a sense of integrity and personal responsibility into their student body.