UM Responds to 60 Minutes Sports Report – New Policies in Place Since Alleged Attack [YouTube]

Tuesday night, 60 Minutes Sports will be airing a segment featuring a former University of Montana student who claimed to have been gang-raped by a group of UM football players.

Vice President for Integrated Communications at the University of Montana, Peggy Kuhr, said on Tuesday afternoon that she had not seen the segment, but that new policies have been put into place over the last three to four years to assist anyone who may have been sexually assaulted.

"I can say frankly, that this was one of the cases that has led to changes on the University of Montana campus regarding policies and procedures and regarding our enhanced education about sexual assault," Kuhr said. "Part of our charge, frankly, is to make sure that people know the array of resources available both on campus and in Missoula itself. If there is a sexual assault, we want the student to report it, and you have a number of options. You can seek counseling help, medical help, you can go to the UM police, or the Missoula police. Everything is confidential, and you have the choice if you want to move forward and have the police involved, or not."

"The important thing is that a student, or an employee, or anyone feel comfortable enough, and that it's important enough that they report this to someone who can help them," she said.

The university also instituted a policy nearly four years ago called PETSA (Personal Empowerment Through Self Awareness), a test containing a series of instructional videos regarding sexual assault that all students must not only take, but receive a 100 percent score, to register for classes.