THE OFFICE of Social Concern and Involvement (OSCI) discussed their plans to implement stricter policies for overnight immersions in a public statement posted on September 14. This is in light of a sexual mistreatment incident that took place during an NSTP immersion in the first semester of SY 2017-2018.

On July 20, the The GUIDON released an investigative piece that shed light on a sexual mistreatment incident and other students’ troubling experiences during overnight NSTP immersions. Students involved in the activity “[recounted] logistic lapses, catcalling, and gunshot sounds heard on site.”

Together with the Sanggunian, OSCI then organized a public consultation on July 25 in response to the former’s petition for the event, prompted by information revealed in The GUIDON’s article, and students’ and parents’ apprehensions for the security of the University’s immersion programs. The petition also called for alternatives for immersions and for a discussion on preventive measures taken to rectify lapses that took place during the incident.

According to OSCI’s statement, the rules that will be more strictly implemented include enforcing requirements of families and formators prior to community visits, and treating instances of drinking in the community being visited as emergency situations.

OSCI’s statement also clarified that there are existing alternatives for both senior immersions and National Service Training Program (NSTP) immersion activities, reminding students that they may opt for these if they are uncomfortable with overnight engagements.

University President Jose Ramon Villarin, SJ released a memo on January 29 stating that a Task Force was formed to review all the immersion programs in the University. Although the memo promised to keep the community updated on the progress of the review, there have been no public updates on the Task Force as of this writing.

Policies and practices, old and new

OSCI’s statement emphasized that alternatives for immersions have already been implemented in the past for both NSTP and senior immersions.

The office has also updated their general protocols for area engagements, which include all policies and practices that must be followed by formators and partner communities as well as guidelines on the cancellations of area engagements due to inclement weather. The complete list of protocols can be requested from OSCI’s office.

Among the policies already put in place is a policy for students to be explicitly told to report instances of drinking in or near their foster home or its surrounding community. Formators are required to treat such reports as emergency situations.

In addition to this, foster families will be asked to be vigilant against cases of gender-based violence and help prevent these, while formators will be required to participate in three preparatory visits and an overnight stay at new communities to assess these prior to students’ visit.

OSCI also stated that they would strictly enforce rules that would prohibit families from accepting students if they have not been given a parents’ orientation beforehand. On-the-spot orientations will not be deemed valid.

They will also strictly enforce rules requiring formators to map their assigned communities, pinpoint the location of each immersee with their contact numbers, and check up on students twice a day.

Ateneo Schools Parents Council (ASPAC) President Katherine Sy claimed that before the implementing the requirement to state these in TH 141 syllabi, a student would have to ask their teacher for these alternatives.

According to Dela Cruz, this school year, TH 141 professors have agreed to explicitly include equivalents to overnight immersions in their syllabus in order to provide alternatives for seniors.

Dela Cruz also said that in SY 2017-2018, OSCI began advising students that they could take  the Reserve Officers Training Corps (ROTC) program as an alternative to NSTP activities.

For this school year, OSCI allowed students to choose between overnight immersion areas and day trip areas.

Associate Dean for Student Formation Roberto “Bobby” Guevara, PhD noted that the Theology Department has provided equivalent alternatives for senior immersions for more than fifteen years.

Reactions and recommendations

Commission on Anti-sexual Misconduct and Violence (CASMV) co-commissioner Regina Pagdanganan expressed how “[they] were very upset” upon reading the investigative article.

“The formator, at least, wasn’t able to address the issue properly, [which affects immersion as the] rite of passage that every Atenean goes [through],” she said. “[The incident] will affect the student’s way of [viewing the immersion experience].”

However, Pagdanganan believes that OSCI addressed the NSTP case accordingly. She said that OSCI’s job was “very difficult” since [the immersion area was] an external community.

Pagdanganan was also concerned that people would “demonize” the office, even though she thinks it was a shared responsibility with the formator. She was concerned that the sexual misconduct case may lead to students and parents petitioning to completely remove the immersion program.

In her perspective, however, OSCI should now focus on “a shift from damage control into prevention.” She then suggested to provide better screening and better preparations for the formators.

In The GUIDON’s interview with the ASPAC, Assistant Chairperson for Traffic and Mobility, Napoleon Quejada said that they would have to “wait and see” if these guidelines are properly implemented.

Following this, ASPAC Parents Committee Head Cynthia Ong suggested that the alternatives provided for immersions should not be too difficult as to leave students no choice but to participate in their immersion.

For ASPAC Chairperson for Faculty Affairs Andrew Puen, OSCI’s post-immersion evaluations should include a portion where it is not conducted by students’ formators in case students have complaints against them.

Puen also asked if OSCI’s partner communities would care enough to report instances of drinking and gender-based violence without more “long-term” benefits from the immersion.

Partnerships with Sanggunian

John Gokongwei School of Management (JGSOM) Representative Rige Encarnacion and School of Social Sciences (SOSS) Representative Mikaela Bona were appointed to serve as representatives in the University Committee to the Integrated Ateneo Formation (InAF) program on August 29 by Sanggunian Vice President Niels Nable.  

Encarnacion said that the committee’s functions include recommending policies based on the social thrust of the University and “[promoting] the social thrust of the school.” According to Bona, as representatives of the student body, they also review the committee’s policies.

The SOSS Sanggunian has also been pushing the review of immersions. Bona said that their focus is not on its logistical security, but rather its “framework and structure.”

Encarnacion noted that the committee has been considering plans to revamp NSTP, and move the years in which immersion and NSTP will be taken. This aligns with the proposals to change in the InAF program structure presented by OSCI in a meeting they organized with student leaders on August 8, 2017. The proposal was to “move PRAXIS or immersion from fourth year to second year, and [NSTP] from second year to third year.”

By sitting through the committee’s meetings, Encarnacion and Bona hope to study the current InAF program and OSCI’s plan for its partner communities. They also wish to help the University committee assess changes they plan to implement for the InAF program by going through data from past InAF evaluations, which include surveys from students on immersions.