Last month, President Barack Obama created a task force assigned to find ways to reduce sexual assault and violence on college campuses. The effort renews an issue that the administration has dealt with in the past. While previously focused on reducing its occurrence in the military, the administration will now put a spotlight on an issue that has become all too common on college campuses.

“To say sexual assault on college campuses is prevalent would be an understatement. Undergraduate women have a one-in-four chance of being raped,” Sam Lowy, a junior at DePaul, said, citing statistics from the Rape, Abuse, Incest National Network, an anti-sexual violence organization.

Lowy is an activist advocating for changes to DePaul’s policy regarding sexual assault prevention and enforcement. She is also starting an Anti- Sexual Assault Coalition, but the organization is not officially recognized by the university at this time. While the problem is evident, finding solutions may present a challenge to those on the task force, as the environment in college is different than that of other places.

“I think there’s a culture of silence around acquaintance rape – the most common kind of assault – so victims are often afraid that they’re the only ones or that no one will believe them, which allows rapists to go unreported and continue their destructive behaviors,” Lowy said. “I also think that the nature of dorm life – close quarters, young people, alcohol regardless of the prohibition – lead to people in vulnerable positions around people that are predatory.”

According to the New York Times, only 12 percent of students who are raped report the crime. And with various issues like alcohol in the mix, very few of the accused are charged with a crime. With these statistics as a backdrop, the president is challenging colleges and universities to try and better prevent these types of heinous crimes.

While the task force will have 90 days to come up with recommendations, the people the commission is charged with helping, students, have ideas as to what recommendations should be made.

“I think the best solution to sexual assault on college campus is for there to be mandatory and comprehensive consent training,” Lowy said. “The idea that everyone can always protect themselves is ludicrous and perpetuates the cultural myth that men can’t help but rape, something I know isn’t true.”

This sentiment is echoed by the administration, as they believe that men should be more responsible and play a larger role in preventing sexual assault. “I want every young man in America to feel some strong peer pressure in terms of how they are supposed to behave and treat women,” Obama said, according to the Times.