Report: Verbal harassment common on Iowa campuses

Of the nearly 300 Iowa College students who responded to a climate survey by the Iowa Pride Network, a majority said they've heard racist, sexist or homophobic comments from students on their campus.

And when such comments are made, very few students or professors intervene, students in the Iowa College Climate Survey reported.

Respondents said 82 to 95 percent of them have heard such remarks, or negative comments about gender expression, from other students. For survey respondents who reported hearing homophobic comments, 52 percent of them said faculty and staff intervene only some of the time or never, while 84 percent said fellow students intervene some of the time or never.

“The verbal harassment lack of intervention is really disturbing,” said Ryan Roemerman, the network's executive director. “Verbal harassment is kind of the gateway to physical harassment and assault. These are the kinds of things that need to be addressed on college campuses.”

Harassment was most likely to occur in common areas such as dining halls and residence halls, the students reported.

Despite the high numbers of students who say they hear negative comments about gender or sexual orientation on campus, the majority of survey respondents - 66 percent - said they feel safer at college than they did in high school.

Data was collected May through June 2009, with 276 student respondents at 31 public, private and community colleges.