Recent headlines have revealed that singer and songwriter Kesha – famous for her hits “Tik Tok” and “We R Who We R” – wants to be relieved of her recording contract after claiming to be a victim of sexual assault for 10 years.

The alleged assailant? Her producer, Dr. Luke.

After being denied the ability to break her contract with Dr. Luke, Kesha was called a liar who is trying to “extort contract negotiation and money,” according to a Rolling Stone article.
“I doubt that someone would lie about something like that,” said sophomore Patrick Lindmeier. “I think she should be relieved of her contract because I think nobody should be forced to have to deal with the person that committed the crime against them.”

Sophomore Jordan Lindley agrees.“Kesha should be able to be freed from her contract given the situation,” said the cross-country school record holder. “The situation is messed up and she shouldn’t be in a contract with someone who abuses/assaults her like that.”
At this point, allegations against Dr. Luke are simply that – allegations. He has not been found guilty by the court system, and he has denied the accusations against him.
Freshman Nick Evangelista believes that Kesha is making the situation more dramatic than it needs to be.

“I can see her being money hungry and try to make a publicity stunt out of it,” the prospective environmental engineer said.
After hearing about Kesha for the first time, Thomas Krustick believes more evidence is needed to free her of her contract.

The freshman thinks the dispute would be civil rather than criminal.
“I feel like there should be some solid evidence if she was physically or sexually abused. There would be reports filed on that separately.”

Not reporting the abuse immediately is very common, especially at a college level. That is why Kesha supporters like Lady Gaga and Diane Warren were passionate about spreading awareness through the “It’s On Us” organization and other organizations against sexual assault.

According to The Other Freshman 15, one in five women and one in six men are victims of sexual assault within their first 15 weeks at college; however, only five percent of these students report it.
“I’m not surprised,” said sophomore Michael Henne. “People just don’t want others to know about it. They don’t want to be thought of as something less.”

Unlike Henne, sophomore Morgan Fuller and freshman Emily Wirth were shocked by the facts presented.
“It is surprising that this many students do get sexually assaulted but definitely when you come to college, you’re always told what to do and what procedures and precautions to follow when in that situation.”

“I educated myself,” pharmacy freshman Geraldine Ojukwu said. “People need to talk about it more and educate themselves. It’s a stigma from a male and female perspective. It’s a very repressed subject.”

Kesha and other celebrities prove that sexual assault is a difficult subject to talk about.
How do we combat sexual assault and make it easier to talk about?

“We need to change people’s mindset, especially in a college setting” Lindmeier concludes. As individuals, especially men, if they change their visual towards women, I think that’ll help a lot more. Everyone needs to have respect for each other.”