Academy Supt. speaks at Higher Education Forum

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Rachel Hammes
  • U.S. Air Force Academy Public Affairs
U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. --  Academy Superintendent Lt. Gen. Michelle D. Johnson spoke at the State of Higher Education Forum at the Colorado Springs Country Club April 3.

The forum was attended by education leaders and college presidents from the surrounding area, including staff from the Pikes Peak Community College, Colorado College and University of Colorado-Colorado Springs.

General Johnson focused on the national issue of sexual assault on college campuses and the steps the military academies are taking to prevent and respond to the crime.

"Ironically, the military academies might be at the forefront of trying to cope with sexual assault on college campuses, because we've been under scrutiny longer," she said. "But that is providing much-needed data so we can continuously improve."

The way in which sexual assault is defined has changed significantly in recent years, General Johnson said, and the way it needs to be approached has changed along with it.

"The issue we're talking about isn't the classic image of a person jumping out of a bush with a knife and a mask," she said. "It might happen, but it's the small minority of incidents. This is not a women's issue, this is our issue. Men can be both victims and perpetrators, just as women can."

General Johnson said the Academy has updated its approach to ensure the education is more relevant and leads to productive conversations on healthy relationships, boundaries, and victim care.  The Academy continues to try and identify every unwanted sexual contact and provide an environment that encourages not only prevention, but reporting when an assault does occur.

"This focus will likely lead to an increase in the number of sexual assaults reported," she said. "However, we know many assaults go unreported.  So, we're trying to close that gap. Ultimately, we want to bring both numbers down - we don't want any incidents, and we don't want them to have anything to report."

General Johnson said battling sexual assault on college campuses is of extreme importance.

"If we don't get this right, it will make moot all the other great things we're trying to achieve," she said.