As a record number of universities have come under federal investigations for allegations they mishandled rape and harassment cases, it seemed like every week a new app, consulting group, conference or educational program cropped up to help colleges improve their responses to sexual assault — as long as the schools were willing to pay a price. In some cases, including at UO, Freyd said, schools would rather spend close to six figures on a product that promised to address the problem than engage with faculty to devise their own program.
“I am very concerned about the profiteering going on,” Freyd told The Huffington Post. “I don’t think people should be making businesses out of responding to college sexual assault and getting rich off it. It strikes me as very dangerous — as soon as you have a profit motive in there, it’s risked to corrupting. You should not get rich over people getting raped.”
