Princeton Encourages Students To Take ‘We Speak’ Survey

Princeton University is calling once again on its graduate and undergraduate students to take the We Speak Survey. This year's version will ask students if they experienced any form of sexual assault or harassment, including online harassment, before and after last year's survey. This is to determine whether the efforts made in response to the first survey have made a difference.

The findings of the first survey in 2015 revealed that 20 percent of the survey takers said they were victims of inappropriate sexual behaviour. Of the 20 percent, 34 percent were undergraduate women, 14 percent were undergraduate men, 19 percent were graduate student women, and 6 percent were graduate student men.

In response to last year's results, the university began the UMatter program and the UMatter Bus initiatives, among others. The first one provided education on what to do if you are a bystander witnessing someone being sexually assaulted while the second brought students back to their dorms safely and securely.

This year's survey aims to examine which efforts by the university were effective and which were ineffective. The school plans on continuing We Speak well into the future for the total safety of its students.

The university stresses the importance that previous test takers retake the survey and for new participants to answer it as well. It is every man and woman in Princeton's responsibility to ensure the school stays a positive community.