Antioch’s SOPP in the News
Initiated by students, Antioch College was the first to develop and adopt an official affirmative consent policy in 1991.
Groundbreaking at the time, it has been recognized as a model in higher education as well as business and government, and continues to be at the center of the ongoing conversations about consent, sexual misconduct, and sexual assault.
Below are a selection media mentions of the Antioch College Sexual Offence Prevention Policy (SOPP).
Generations of Change
In the wake of the Women’s March and the #MeToo movement, Antioch College’s SOPP has come to the forefront as a way forward in the pursuit of a culture free from sexual violence.
The New Yorker:The Politics of Bad Sex by Jeannie Suk Gersen
Houston Chronicle: Opinion: Rethinking kisses at a Montrose party circa 1976 by Mike Snyder
The Guardian: Why we need to take bad sex more seriously. Consent has been portrayed as the cure for all the ills of our sexual culture. But what if the injunction to ‘know what you want’ is another form of coercion? by Katherine Angel
The New York Times, The Daily Podcast: Listen to ‘The Daily’: Sexual Harassment’s Toll on CareersOpens a New Window. by Michael Barbaro
Cincinnati Enquirer: 27 years ago, this sexual consent form was mocked. Now it’s more relevant than ever.Opens a New Window. by Kate Murphy
The New York Times: ‘I Kept Thinking of Antioch’: Long Before #MeToo, a Times Video Journalist Remembered a Form She Signed in 2004Opens a New Window. by Samantha Stark
The New York Times: Thank You for Asking by Katherine Rosman
The Washington Post: ‘No means no’ to ‘yes means yes’: How our language around sexual consent has changed by Katie Mettler
The Nation: #MeToo Is Changing the Definition of ‘Bad Sex’ by Collier Meyerson
St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Aziz Ansari episode shows the most radical change in dating isn’t about sex by Aisha Sultan
Pioneer Press: ‘Yes means yes’ sex policy considered for Minnesota State’s 37 colleges and universities by Josh Verges
The New York Times: Aziz, We Tried to Warn You by Lindy West
Think Progress: Op-Ed: The Aziz Ansari story proves that our traditional ideas about consent are flawed by Jeanne Kay
New Republic: The Patriarchy Strikes Back by Sarah Jones
Dayton Daily News: Op-Ed: Consent 101 by Tom Manley
The Washington Post: Affirmative ConsentOpens a New Window. by Christine Emba
The Daily Beast: How Antioch College Got Rape Right 20 Years Ago Opens a New Window.by Nicolaus Mills
AGB Reports: Taking A Stand Against Sexual AssaultOpens a New Window. by Karen Mulhauser
Think Progress: The First College To Use Affirmative Consent Was A Laughingstock. Now, The Tide Is Turning. byTara Culp-Ressler
NPR: The History Behind Sexual Consent PoliciesOpens a New Window. with Arun Rath and Kristine Herman
The Economist: Yes means yes, says Mr BrownOpens a New Window.
The New York Times Magazine: Oh Yes Means Yes: The Joy of Affirmative ConsentOpens a New Window. by Ann Friedman
The College Fix: NATIONWIDE, CAMPUS OFFICIALS GOVERN HOW COLLEGE STUDENTS MUST HAVE SEXOpens a New Window. by Michael Cipriano
The Cut: We Started the Crusade for Affirmative Consent Way Back in the ’90s by Bethany Saltman
Time: The Most Game-Changing Part of the ‘Affirmative Consent’ LawOpens a New Window. by Quinn Cummings
The Epoch Times: SUNY to Create ‘Yes Means Yes’ Sexual Assault PolicyOpens a New Window. by Jonathan Zhou
International Business Times: ‘Yes Means Yes’ Sexual Assault Prevention Law Has Prototype In Many College Campus PoliciesOpens a New Window. by Zoe Mintz
Big Think: Explicit Consent and College SexOpens a New Window. by Steven Mazie
Jezebel: Revisiting Antioch’s “Ask First” Policy 23 years laterOpens a New Window. by J. M. Bishop
Huffington Post: State of Consent in CaliforniaOpens a New Window. by Marrie Lobel
The New York Times: California Bill Sets Sights on Curbing Campus Sexual Assualts Opens a New Window.by Ian Lovett
The New York Times, Letter to the Editor: Requiring Consent to Sex on Campus Opens a New Window.
The New York Times: ‘Yes’ Is Better Than ‘No’Opens a New Window. by Michael Kimmel and Gloria Steinem
Dayton Daily News: Local colleges react to California’s sex assault law Opens a New Window.by Lot Tan
WND Education: Consenting to sex could require a text Opens a New Window.by Leo Hohmann
Salon: Let’s talk about sex (more): Education, conversation is the way to help prevent sexual assault Opens a New Window.by Katie McDonough
