Sexual assault survivor Katie Koestner spoke to a packed room of students and administrators about prevention of and resources for sexual assault victims at R U Ready – a presentation in the ICC Auditorium Wednesday.

“The problem is that you know the end of the story before the first word I speak,” Koestner began. She proceeded to tell the story of how she had been sexually assaulted on a date with a fellow student at the College of William and Mary in 1990. A university trial followed the alleged sexual assault.

“It was my word against his,” Koestner said. “There was no criminal trial, just a campus trial.”

Although Koestner could not convince the district attorney to pursue her case in criminal court, the accused was found guilty with the punishment of not being permitted in her residence hall. She was able to tell her story to others, but the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act prevented the transcript of the trial from being publicized.

After graduating in 1994, Koestner took her story to the media, including the Oprah Winfrey Show, NBC Nightly News, CNBC Talk Life, Larry King Live and MTV, among others. She also completed a 1994 docudrama for HBO entitled “No Visible Bruises: The Katie Koestner Story.”

Koestner’s program, called “Yes/No,” has been featured at thousands of universities nationwide. It involves asking the audience a variety of questions, such as if they think it is naive to believe that when a person is invited to someone’s room they don’t have to have sex.

She also offered advice to students on how to assist a friend or family member who comes to them for help after a sexual assault. She explained that there are three main categories in helping someone – medical attention, reporting and counseling and emotional support.

“Be a really good listener, not judgmental, and offer solutions,” she said. “It’s not a one, two, three thing. You can do all three.”

Koestner also said that students can take self-defense classes, work on assertiveness, carry weapons like mace and choose certain times to go out. She presented statistics including the figures that one in four women are assaulted before graduating from college, one in eight men are sexually assaulted in their lifetime and 98 percent of sexual assaults were committed by men.

Koestner praised Georgetown for the presence of so many administrators at R U Ready.

“You are privileged to have so many VPs in one room,” she said. “I’m happy to see all those students wearing blue [R U Ready t-shirts]. There are more men wearing blue shirts. You also care about the safety and trust of the Georgetown community.”

Todd Olson, vice president of student affairs, said he found the presentation very compelling and that such high attendance was a sign that the campus community cared about these issues.

“It was really encouraging that this many students were here,” Olsen said. “We believe it’s important to do it early in the year. We ask that students absorb a lot in NSO so [this program] is a little separate so it stands out.”

R U Ready volunteer Mike Bayer (COL ’05) echoed Koestner’s remarks on the role men can play in sexual assault prevention.

“A lot of times it’s seen as a women’s issue and guys are powerless. R U Ready demonstrates the way it’s an issue for everyone,” he said. “Men and women should be actively involved in preventing this in the first place.”

Many students felt that the speech was moving and effective.

“It was amazingly powerful,” David Ragone (COL ’06) said. “I feel as if she brought in community aspects and addresses the story which could be depressing and frightening. She came in and said that she came to ask a question, not to tell a story. We must act in the future and take something away from the past.”

A question-and-answer period and small discussion groups followed Koestner’s speech.

R U Ready is a student-led group committed to educating the campus about sexual assault. R U Ready includes both student and administrative groups such as Health Education Services, Residence Life, Center for Student Programs, Take Back the Night, GUMARR, School of Nursing and Health Studies and the Department of Athletics.