BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — With classes now underway at colleges and universities across Indiana, experts say the next few months are crucial for keeping students safe.
"The Red Zone" is the period of time between the first day of classes and Thanksgiving break. Data shows 50% of the reported sexual assaults happen during that time.
At Indiana University, the football program is doing its part to stop it.
"You can't just talk around it," head coach Tom Allen said. "You have to address it face-to-face."
Allen is referring to sexual assault on college campuses.
"It's a relevant topic on college campuses, and our guys are not immune to that," Allen said.
That's why Allen enlisted the help of Brenda Tracy in August 2019.
"You could have heard a pin drop throughout her whole presentation," Allen said. "It got everyone's attention in a huge way."
Tracy is the founder of a national nonprofit called Set The Expectation, with the mission of ending sexual assault and interpersonal violence on college campuses.
"I know that these can be very challenging discussions to have," Tracy said.
That's because Tracy experienced it firsthand.
In 1998, Tracy said she survived a brutal gang rape by four college football players.
"At the time, I did everything I kind of thought a 'good victim' was supposed to do," Tracy said. "I reported it to the police. I got a rape kit done and a forensic exam done. I reported it to the school."
That's when Tracy said, instead of help, she received backlash and victim blaming.
"The athletic director at the time said I didn't have a good case," Tracy said.
It wasn't until 2014 when Tracy decided to make her story public.
"I just spent so many years living in what I would call a prison of shame and silence," Tracy said. "It's the story of many, many, many survivors."
RELATED: Women's soccer players suing Butler University over alleged sexual assault by athletic trainer
RELATED: Sexual assault survivor shares story as sexual abuse reports rise at Indiana college campuses
From there, her story caught the attention of thousands of people nationwide, including coaches and football programs across the country. She began traveling to share her story.
"Then, Baylor called and wanted me to come," Tracy said. "And then, another school called, and another school called, and eventually, I was like, 'Wow, I'm a professional speaker!'"
On the list of destinations were both IU and the University of Notre Dame.
"Her bravery, her honesty, it was 'wow.' It was so impactful. It was such a strong message," Allen said.
For Allen's coaches and players, the message is simple: Life is full of choices.
"It's about the consequences for those choices — good and bad," Allen said.
Tracy also said the team's culture can make a real change on campus.
"They have such a platform," Tracy said. "They have so many people with their eyes on them. They can make such a difference."
"I want this campus to feel like when the football team arrives at an event, then everybody is going to feel safe because they are not going to allow things to go the wrong direction," Allen said.
Currently, more than 54,000 coaches and athletes have taken Tracy's pledge, setting the expectation that sexual assault and interpersonal violence will not be tolerated on their respective teams.
However, it doesn't stop there for Tracy.
"It has kind of morphed into so many things that I didn't expect, but it's been this really amazing journey because everything has happened so organically," Tracy said.
In addition to her Set The Expectation campaign, Tracy also established The Tracy Rule.
In her words, it is the most comprehensive, serious misconduct policy in the country.
"I created it out of need because the NCAA wouldn't do it themselves. Sexual violence is not an NCAA violation," Tracy said.
When schools commit to The Tracy Rule, Tracy said players who violate the rule forfeit their athletic eligibility.
"If you can tie athletic eligibility to grades, you can tie to harmful behaviors," Tracy said.
The University of Texas at San Antonio was the first school to adopt The Tracy Rule in 2019. Since then, the University of Virginia's College at Wise also jumped onboard.
13News reached out to the NCAA about The Tracy Rule and the association's current sexual violence policy, to which it responded:
"The NCAA Board of Governors expects all NCAA member schools to comply with the NCAA Policy on Campus Sexual Violence. It is incredibly important and, indeed, the responsibility of each institution to comply with all policy components and to develop any necessary processes to ensure they successfully implement the policy and can attest to their compliance. The Association also provides schools with resources, such as a sexual violence prevention toolkit and answers to frequently asked questions, to assist them in meeting the six requirements of the policy.”
As the Hoosiers put their final preparations in place for the team's season opener against Ohio State University on Saturday, Sept. 2, Allen said the work, and difficult conversations, off the field will continue.
"I'm not going to stop doing it because there is a lot at stake," Allen said. "We are going to continue to educate and challenge and encourage and motivate our guys to do things the right way."
Allen said since Tracy visited IU's campus, the team has welcomed several different speakers who gave different perspectives on the topic of sexual assault and violence.
Allen calls it "the power of the outside voice."
"We have got to make the right decisions," Allen said. "No one else is to blame for that except ourselves. We are the ones. We have to own ourselves. We have to own our choice. We have to own the decisions that we make, the places that we go and what we do while we are there."
"They have the opportunity to not only impact lives, but save lives," Tracy said. "I hope they will take up this charge."