‘Hunting Ground’ Sheds Light on Campus Rape Issue

If ever there were a film that should be required viewing for incoming college freshmen, The Hunting Ground — a new CNN Films documentary about the “rape culture” that is said to exist on campuses throughout the United States — would have to be a top contender.

But don’t take that as a wholehearted endorsement of the film itself, which, despite its noble aims, has its share of problems.

Rather, the proposition that every new college student should watch this particular film, which debuts theatrically in New York and Los Angeles on Feb. 27 and later this year on CNN, stems from the inherent value in probing the deadly serious topic of sexual assault on campus. In particular, in advance of one’s collegiate experience as opposed to becoming ensnared in it unawares, whether as a victim or alleged perpetrator, as so many college students do year after year.

This is, after all, a time when dozens of institutions of higher learning are under investigation for possible violations of federal law over how they have handled or, perhaps more appropriately, how they may have mishandled complaints of sexual violence and harassment.

Hardly a day goes by, it seems, without the issue of sexual assault on campus appearing in the news, with claims and even counterclaims grabbing headlines and magazine covers like never before.

Who among us, whether parents or college presidents, wants to see this phenomenon continue unabated for America’s incoming class of freshmen and their successors?

The Hunting Ground, by filmmakers Kirby Dick and Amy Ziering, takes viewers dorm-room deep into the issue of sexual assault on campus from the vantage point of those who lived it and, in some cases, died after they took their own lives because of it.