We’ve all heard the statistics, as much as we might wish we hadn’t: 20 percent of women will be sexually assaulted during their time at college. Only about five percent of sexual assaults will be reported to police. Statistically, college women are safer off campus than on. And The University of Alabama, to its discredit, has had 30 percent more sexual assaults occur on campus than any other university in the state.

Recently, the CW has taken it upon itself to raise awareness of this issue. But there has been one tremendous gap in its coverage.

Why has no one talked about alcohol’s role in sexual misconduct on campus?

Study after study has found that over 50 percent of sexual assaults on college campuses involve alcohol. In the majority of cases, both the victim and the perpetrator were intoxicated, but the perpetrator was more likely to be drunk than the victim.

Consider this information in light of the fact that nearly one in 50 UA students is arrested for alcohol-related offenses before they graduate. Suddenly, the University’s problem with sexual assault begins to make more sense.

However, the connection between alcohol and sexual assault also means that we’re unlikely to reduce sexual assault on campus anytime soon. Sadly, more people on this campus are incentivized to protect drinking than to protect women.

Individual students aren’t going to cut back on their drinking, because no one ever expects that they’re going to commit a sexual crime. That’s the problem with alcohol on campus; people set out to have a good time, and by the time they end up in a situation they can’t handle, they’re too far gone to know.

The greek system isn’t going to stand up, because it thrives on a culture of alcoholism. Without it, greeks wouldn’t be able to attract new recruits or retain their existing membership. And frankly, this year’s hazing scandal implies that the greek system doesn’t care much about its members to begin with.

Finally, the University isn’t going to do anything, because it stands to profit by ignoring the issue. Raising awareness of sexual assault on campus would be terrible PR for the administrators who are supposed to safeguard the University’s reputation, so university officials will continue to handle these incidents quietly and efficiently as they always have.

And targeting alcohol would break the University’s unspoken contract with the greek system: namely, that greeks are absolved of any personal or collective accountability as long as they keep bringing in freshmen recruits and the accompanying tuition dollars.

So where does that leave us? Anyone who seriously cares about sexual assault at The University of Alabama has two options. We can either accept that alcoholism, and related sexual assault, will remain commonplace and deftly hidden. Or we can push administrators to aggressively fight alcoholism, hold the greek system responsible for its members, and handle sexual assault charges in less secretive venues. These things will only happen when the backlash from the student body demands it.

I strongly doubt that anything will change. But I’m not above hoping.

Nathan James is a sophomore majoring in public relations. His column runs weekly on Thursdays.

Leading in today’s Crimson White:

[Opinion] University should pick up financial slack for veterans

[Letter to the Editor] In response to Brad Erthal’s column ‘Liberty means birth control coverage’

[Opinion] Despite contrary claims, college must focus on learning