PAGE opinion13 December 2014 | hhstoday.com disgust. Maria Roberts and Ellie Rodriguez Commentary One in five women is raped in college, according to the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control. That means in a senior American Government class of 25 college-bound students with 15 girls, there is a likelihood that three of those girls will be raped in the next four years. Recently, Rolling Stone published an article scrutinizing the University of Virginia for its handling of a particularly graphic and vile case of gang rape. In the wake of its publishing, the article and its author have faced great backlash – the validity of sources and quotations has been severely questioned. Regardless of quality and journalistic integrity, the attention-grabbing article sheds light on a disturbing reality, underscored by startling and perturbing statistics. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, rape is the most common violent crime on college campuses. Rape culture pervades our society; many are guilty of initiating a rape joke or cracking a rib at a skit taking advantage of rape humor. Still, seniors leave high school ignorant of the dangers that exist on the campuses. Change before college We have an opportunity here in high school to educate all students about the dangers of sexual assault and impaired decision making in college. We can’t afford to send yet another class to college unarmed; our greatest defense against rape is education. This senior class leaves in seven months without a formal prevention education. No one has told us to always keep our keys in hand, to avoid walking alone at night or to hide our dorm information carefully. It’s an assumption. We think our parents and teachers have implied taking certain precautions and treating our peers with respect, but upon greater inspection we realize it’s taboo to talk about. No one has explicitly warned us, shared terrifying statistics, or even more striking -- personal stories. It seems a reality too distant and unfathomable to consider. Most seniors probably think, “this can’t happen to me; I would never be raped or assaulted, I would never allow myself to be raped or assaulted, I would never rape or assault.” We shouldn’t be so naive. We should be outraged enough to act. We need to ensure college-bound students feel safe enough to approach future administrators if faced with a potentially unsafe situation. They must be confident in their ability to raise their voices, regardless of the college they attend or the surrounding circumstances. Most rapes in college occur during the first few weeks of school when students are most vulnerable as they acclimate to their new environment. Educated incoming freshmen should be less likely fall prey to the naivete that it will “not happen to them.” A community conversation We need to drive home the understanding that using alcohol to take advantage of another person is a punishable form of sexual assault. Alcohol, not roofies, is the drug most commonly used to facilitate sexual assault according to Only with Consent, an organization dedicated to consent education. We can’t know what college communities or environments our fellow students will enter in the next couple of years, but we can ensure they are armed with an understanding of the perils of sexual assault. This means not only being cautious and preventative, but carrying pepper spray or vigilantly watching drinks; it means knowing the definition of rape (which is much wider than many perceive) and standing up for ourselves and our peers. It means defending those who have been attacked and those who are coming forward. Rape culture -- from sexual assault to slut shaming -- has no place on campuses. More must be done to educate men and women. Organizations like It’s on Us, a White House campaign focused on mobilizing men to join in the fight against college rape, and Only with Consent are helping to change the rape-accepting mentality. Male and female students are equally responsible for creating a safe environment where those who have been assaulted can come forward and seek the help they need. The repercussions of rape don’t begin or end with the act of sexual assault. The rapist is not the one monster attacking the victim, possible slut-shaming by peers and the inaction of a silent administration are just as destructive. This is a community conversation. A new culture It’s more than teaching one gender how to protect themselves and the other how to be respectful; it’s critical we reinforce that this disgusting crisis is unacceptable under any circumstance. We cannot attempt to destroy a rape culture if we are unwilling to build and develop a culture of respect and education strong enough to obliterate the former. This is about changing a mentality; it goes beyond handing out rape-whistles and telling women to use them when threatened. It means scorning the variety of cultural microaggressions that are the foundation of the college rape crisis -- including but not limited to the assumptions that underlie the consequences of heavy drinking and poor decision making. We need more legislative action like the “Yes Means Yes” law in California, which requires affirmative consent for sexual activity on college campuses. We shouldn’t be surprised that our nonchalance has created an unkempt culture growing within our universities. A change of mind is necessary, one that can be instilled before we leave home and head off to meet our dormates.