Content warning: This story contains discussions of sexual harassment and abuse.

On Dec. 1, the Senate of College Councils passed legislation that pushes the implementation of consent education in First-Year Interest Groups, requiring every FIG to host one meeting dedicated to consent education.

The legislation defines consent education as “a curriculum that teaches students how to define boundaries in personal interactions and how to recognize social cues.” The document’s executive summary states 28% of female undergraduates report unwanted advances, pointing to the need for more active engagement in conversations about consent. 

“Everyone’s new and discovering college and getting excited about all these things, but it’s also important to be responsible,” said Mizla Shrestha, a finance and economics sophomore. “It can be a scary thing, but I do think it’s super necessary and it can be also really healthy and helpful when people are starting to get into relationships.”

Anika Srinath, the author of the legislation, said she was motivated to push for this initiative due to the lack of education about sex and boundaries.

“Right now, the only sexual education you get is the online module (UT mandates), which a lot of students don’t engage with, tend to zone out of it, or it’s not interactive,” biochemistry senior Srinath said. “It would be a lot more helpful to implement this in a more interactive format, where students are in these small groups where they talk, they can ask questions, and then besides that, the fact that we do live in Texas, (where) not a lot of public schools offer any kind of sex education.”

The Title IX office will help develop the curriculum and coordinate its implementation and presentation in the FIG classes, according to the legislation. This curriculum will build off of the online UT course “Are We OK? Tools and Tips for Setting and Communicating Boundaries,” which serves to introduce skills in boundary setting, communication and self-awareness. 

Although spearheading this initiative, the Title IX office is not the only group of staffers interested in better consent education, said Kathryn Redd, associate director for prevention and development at the Counseling and Mental Health Center.

“One of the things that I know is important for us as staff members is that students have the tools that they need to communicate their boundaries and their desires in any type of situation,” Redd said.

The document outlines that FIGs are not, nor will they become, mandatory as a result of the implementation of the curriculum. The consent education class will take place early in the semester because of higher attendance rates during this period, but students uncomfortable attending are not required to, according to the legislation.

“It is a really important topic,” Shrestha said. “I do think we all know it’s an important topic. I just don’t think it’s a prominent topic on campus. That number is probably severely underreported; there are also people who identify as males who are not probably reporting anyway. So I do think this kind of legislation, this kind of effort will make an important topic, also a prominent one on campus.”