As I write this column, I have no smile like the one you see in my picture.

This newspaper recently reported that, if statistics hold true, one in four women will be sexually assaulted on a college campus this year. To all the fathers of coeds out there, your daughter has a 25 percent chance of being attacked at an institution of higher learning.You pray it won't happen to her, but is that all you can do?Parents have a right to know what colleges and universities are doing about the likelihood that someone will be assaulted on their campuses. Administrations can say they have never had an attack upon a woman at their school. Do not take their word for it. Many women do not report sexual assaults, because they feel ashamed or they fear retaliation from the perpetrator.If you think that the best colleges are safer than the not-so-known schools, think again.A few months ago, the University of Pennsylvania, one of the most prestigious universities in America, reported that nearly 27 percent of its female student body had reported that they had been assaulted since entering the school.Freshman and sophomore women have been more vulnerable to unwanted aggressive behavior by males.UPenn President Amy Gutmann called the finding "deeply troubling," In addition, a majority of students surveyed did not know where to turn on campus if they or a friend became a victim.Reports of assaults have come in from other top-level academic institutions, such as Stanford and Michigan.The Washington Post recently interviewed coeds who had been assaulted on campuses all across this country. Here are comments from victims."I told him to stop. He thought I was joking. I froze.""I kept on asking for help and no one would help me.""The last thing I said before it happened was 'get your hands off me.' "Perpetrators argue that consent was given before sexual activity. Time magazine defines consent as "voluntary verbal agreement." Consent cannot occur from any nonverbal activity. If she never said "no" and she never said "yes," then it means "no." Perceived sexual compliance is actually rape.Another significant factor in campus assaults is drinking alcohol to the point of incapacitation. In 2015, reports state that four out of five college students drink alcohol. First-year women are especially at risk when attending parties."I had been drinking a lot and I couldn't fight him off.""I drank too much. I feel like it's my fault. I did this to myself."Another alarming statistic, common to many campuses, reveals that 82 percent of students who witnessed females drinking heavily and heading for possible unwanted sexual encounters said or did nothing at all.I get it. If you get involved, you put yourself at risk. You say it's none of your business. Perhaps you're right until it happens to your daughter or to your friend. Then you will cry out, "Why didn't anyone help her?"Last year, 91 percent of all colleges and universities reported zero incidents of rape or assault on their campuses. Yet, upon closer investigation, there were rapes and assaults not written into the records.Many women are raped by men who are known to them and they tell no one about what happened."I didn't report him," said one coed. "My family taught me to fight my own battles."Colleges need to provide mandatory sexual assault classes for all students and establish safe havens where women in fear and actual victims can go to protect themselves or to get treatment and counseling.I fear for my daughter. She's only in the third grade. By the time she goes to college, what will be the statistic then? Will three out of four women get assaulted?This country shows its disgust for pedophiles. We shake our heads at racial discrimination, but when a male forces himself upon a compromised female, some still say, "Well, boys will be boys."Enough is enough.Stop accepting that "boys will be boys."Demand that "men should be men."Rich Strack can be reached at

katehep11@gmail.com.