SPJ event to focus on sexual assault statistics in MAC schools
Central Michigan University's Society of Professional Journalists chapter will host a symposium on the availability of sexual assault statistics within Mid-American Conference schools at 7 p.m. April 12 in Moore Hall room 105.
Out of all 50 states, Michigan is known for being the most difficult state to obtain information from using the Freedom of Information Act — ranking last in a 2015 national study by the Center for Public Integrity and Global Integrity.
For the past two months, SPJ has been gathering sexual assault records from 12 MAC colleges across the Midwest. While the sexual assault reports are important, it is the reaction from the universities to the FOIA requests that is being looked at.
“The goal of this project is to see how FOIA interacts with universities outside of Michigan as well as inside,” said Patricia Alvord, South Lyon senior and SPJ president.
The event will begin with an introduction of what FOIA is and the process of gathering sexual assault records. Once some background has been given on the topic, the results will be revealed and explained.
After the presentation, there will be a panel. Panelists include:
- Timothy Boudreau, journalism department chair
- Jordyn Hermani, editor-in-chief, Central Michigan Life
- Emily Jones, vice president, Organization of Women Leaders
For those unable to attend the symposium, there will be live tweeting of the event and there will also be a live recording on the SPJ Facebook page. Those looking for more information can be contact SPJ Treasurer Samantha Cuneo at cuneo1sl@cmich.edu or by phone at 616-204-9802.
