If you wondered why we were staring at your shoes when you came in, we were hoping they were damp because you had to walk on water to get here.

We understand the complexity of improving women's safety on campus. The CATS Path is not the only thing needed to improve women safety but it is a great start.

Speaking out about violence against women in our communities is important because the problem finds its power in secrecy. Naming the problem and visibly speaking out against it is a way to dissolve the grip these crimes have on communities of women across our nation.

There are common lessons for us to learn from our own UK study and from the study just released by the AAUW. First, these forms of victimization happen to far too many students: female and male, from all walks of life, and from all races and ethnicities. The second discomforting similarity is that most students who have these experiences do not tell.

Clearly, we wanted someone who understood law enforcement, particularly someone who had experience in a university environment. We also wanted someone who understood critical issues that face students, faculty and staff - like, of course, women's safety.

The study is an important reminder of what we have been saying now for two years at UK: that these forms of abuse and victimization touch the lives of way too many students and that these behaviors cannot be tolerated in a university environment where we want students to reach their fullest academic potential.