More than one-fifth of female students surveyed in a national poll at Purdue University say they have been sexually assaulted since arriving on campus.
The campus climate survey on sexual assault was taken by the Association of American Universities - a group of 62 research universities - and Purdue was one of 27 universities to participate.
Only 13.2 percent of female undergraduate students responded to the voluntary survey - below the AAU average of 19.3 percent - but of those who responded, 21.9 percent said they had been sexually assaulted since entering Purdue.
Sexual assault was defined in the survey as non-consensual sexual penetration or sexual touching involving physical force or incapacitation.
Purdue's result is also below the AAU's aggregate of 23.1 percent.
"We recognize that sexual assault and misconduct is a national issue, and our participation in this survey helps us to understand both the national and our local climate," President Mitch Daniels said in a statement. "In reality, we have to do what is right for our students right here at Purdue no matter Purdue's disappointingly low response rate to the survey or the campus climate elsewhere. Even one incident of this sort is unacceptable, and we will use what we are learning from these results to focus on problems that are clear."
Purdue was the only university in the Hoosier State to take part in the survey - Indiana University is the only other Indiana member of the AAU - which is believed to be the largest survey ever on campus sexual assault.
At Purdue, 13.2 percent of undergraduate women said they had been sexually assaulted during the current year, and responses indicated that the use of alcohol and/or drugs is involved in a majority of incidents of sexual assault and sexual misconduct.
The survey also reports the majority of respondents who witnessed a drunken person headed toward a sexual encounter or witnessed sexually violent or harassing behavior did not intervene.
Purdue says it has many programs in place, including a 24-hour crisis line, a required program on sexual assault for beginning students, a health and safety session during student orientation as well as educational sessions on bystander intervention.
"These educational programs are designed to provide students with important information on this topic, including information on available resources and Purdue policies and procedures. Purdue's survey results indicate that education is vital to both the prevention and response to sexual assault," said Alysa Christmas Rollock, vice president for ethics and compliance.
The university is also establishing the Center for Advocacy, Response and Education, a centralized resource center for students who are victims or survivors of sexual assault, relationship violence and stalking.
CARE is expected to be fully operational before the beginning of the 2016 academic year.
