My first experience with campus sexual assault came when, as an 18 year old freshman at this University, the fraternity I joined was kicked off campus for a sexual assault committed by one of our members that occurred a week into the school year. I had that experience in the back of my mind when I picked up journalism as a hobby, and met a friend on the debate team in the accelerated masters program who was writing his masters in economics thesis on the sexual economy of USC’s Greek System – basically, a huge statistical analysis of how money and parties and hook-ups interacted in a college social system. I read his study, and wrote a long piece over the course of a few months exploring its conclusions for campus sexual assault. I then became more passionate about investigating solutions to campus sexual assault.

Nathaniel Haas is a second-year law student from Reno, Nevada at USC’s Gould School of Law. He received his undergraduate degree from the University of Southern California with dual bachelors in political science and economics. Nathaniel is also a journalist covering national politics who frequently contributes to The Huffington Post. His work has appeared in POLITICO, The San Francisco Chronicle, The Sacramento Bee, and The Denver Post. In June of 2016, he received the Los Angeles Press Club Award for Best Online Investigative Journalism and was recognized by the Society of Professional Journalists for his work in investigative journalism on campus sexual assault.

This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx