Students on campuses across the United States marched on Thursday to demand institutions do more to prevent sexual assault and show solidarity with survivors.

More than 100 students gathered at George Washington University in Washington, D.C., on Thursday to show solidarity with survivors of sexual assault. At Cornell University, students are demanding a review of the online sexual assault–prevention training that new students see during orientation, while Stanford University students are seeking the return of recently discontinued sexual assault–prevention programs. Emory University students are asking their university to overhaul Title IX education and improve the ways it conveys information about sexual assault resources.

Faculty at the University of Wisconsin at Madison urged Interim Chancellor Eric Wilcots to do more to address sexual assault on campus during the first Faculty Senate meeting of the year. At the University of Oregon, students called on the university to reform how it handles campus sexual violence after the institution issued a crime warning about five sexual assaults that occurred in less than a week into the fall semester.

The University of Oregon issued an alert on September 30 after receiving reports of five sexual assaults that occurred on or near campus during the start of the school year. Four of the five sexual assaults involved University of Oregon students, and one occurred off-campus near the Alton Baker Dog Park, adjacent to university property. The university stated that the five sexual assaults are not believed to be related and that several alleged perpetrators may have taken advantage of the fact that the victims were intoxicated at social events. The University of Oregon and the Eugene Police Department are investigating the reported assaults.

"Officials would examine efforts closely to ensure the university is doing all it can, employing best practices, and remaining proactive in creating a safe campus," University of Oregon President Karl Scholz said.

Since 2013, the Clery Act has required colleges to offer new and current students prevention and awareness programs on domestic violence and sexual assault. The Jeanne Clery Campus Safety Act requires colleges and universities to report crime data and issue timely emergency warnings of threats on campus.

Clery Act prevention and awareness programs must address bystander intervention and risk reduction aimed at recognizing warning signs and addressing root causes, and the act states that these programs must be ongoing. However, the Clery Act does not require colleges to mandate that students complete or attend prevention programs. The Clery Act requires college officials working on Title IX, such as coordinators, investigators, and hearing and appeals officers, to be trained annually.

Title IX regulations require colleges to train people implementing procedures, such as Title IX coordinators, investigators, hearing officers, and appeals officers, but they do not require that all employees are trained or that students receive training. The Department of Education stated in the final 2020 Title IX regulations that nothing in the rules impedes recipients’ discretion to provide students or employees with educational information.

New York’s 2015 Enough Is Enough law states that all new and transfer college and university students must receive training on consent, bystander intervention, risk reduction, available victim resources, and university Title IX policies. Under this law, student organization leaders must demonstrate completion of sexual assault training before their group can be recognized, and student athletes must complete sexual assault training before they can play.

Texas law requires students to attend training on the institution’s sexual harassment, sexual assault, dating violence, and stalking policies before or during their first semester. Illinois and Vermont laws require institutions to offer annual training for students but do not seek proof of completion.

An anonymous former Cornell University student, identified as Jane Doe, alleged she was raped at a campus fraternity house in 2024. Cornell University officials stated in a response to Jane Doe’s lawsuit that the university investigated and adjudicated the allegations consistent with university policies and that they take sexual violence extremely seriously.

"Jane Doe’s story is as harrowing and heartbreaking as the fact that it is not unusual," Fragala said. She added that she sees the five cases at the University of Oregon in the first week of classes not as an increase in violence but an increase in students finding their voice to speak on it. Oregon State Representative Annessa Hartman said survivors know Jane Doe’s story is not one in a million.