--- title: Acceptance Letters Ad Sheds Light on Campus Sexual Assault description: A new ad is creating awareness for sexual assault on campus by putting a dark spin on the moment teens find out they got into college. canonical: https://time.com/4300008/college-acceptance-letter-ad-campus-sexual-assault/ author: Megan McCluskey article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-04-19T22:20:39.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:31:42.113Z og:title: This Ad Uses College Acceptance Letters to Shed Light on Campus Sexual Assault og:description: "If they accept you, don’t accept this" og:url: https://time.com/4300008/college-acceptance-letter-ad-campus-sexual-assault/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: This Ad Uses College Acceptance Letters to Shed Light on Campus Sexual Assault twitter:description: "If they accept you, don’t accept this" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # This Ad Uses College Acceptance Letters to Shed Light on Campus Sexual Assault  by [Megan McCluskey](https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Staff Writer Apr 19, 2016 10:20 PM UTC  by [Megan McCluskey](https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Staff Writer Apr 19, 2016 10:20 PM UTC A new ad is creating awareness for [sexual assault on campus](http://time.com/3936005/university-michigan-sexual-misconduct-survey/) by putting a dark spin on the moment teens find out they got into college. In the spot, which is designed to look like a home video, high school seniors joyfully read aloud their acceptance letters only to find that they contain an unexpected catch. “Prepare for a challenging year ahead which includes losing your virginity to a rapist,” the letter reads. “We’ll only suspend him for a single day, then you’re on your own.” The video is dubbed “[The Unacceptable Acceptance Letters](https://www.dontacceptrape.com)” and is accompanied by a caption with more information on the [prevalence of sexual assault](http://time.com/3722834/the-hunting-ground-provocative-documentary-reignites-campus-rape-debate/) at American universities. “1 in 5 women and 1 in 16 men are sexually assaulted in college,” it says. “Colleges across the country continue to underreport or even completely ignore these attacks, failing the same students they promised to protect. If they accept you, don’t accept this.” **Read More:** [This Is the New Frontier in the Fight Against Campus Rape](http://time.com/3910602/campus-rape-sexual-assault-california-law/) The commercial is part of a larger campaign by Goodby, Silverstein & Partners that includes a chilling print ad showing an acceptance letter that targets the practice of [victim blaming](http://time.com/3685273/uva-sorority-frat-rape/). “The claims you make against your rapist will be ignored, much like your right to feel safe at school,” it reads. “After all, you can’t expect us to expel somebody on the basis of a story that begins with ‘I had been drinking.'” > [](https://twitter.com/LauraPastacheli/status/721389105863663616) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4300008/college-acceptance-letter-ad-campus-sexual-assault/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4300008/college-acceptance-letter-ad-campus-sexual-assault/"},"headline":"This Ad Uses College Acceptance Letters to Shed Light on Campus Sexual Assault","datePublished":"2016-04-19T22:20:39.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:31:42.113Z","description":"\"If they accept you, don’t accept this\"","url":"https://time.com/4300008/college-acceptance-letter-ad-campus-sexual-assault/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Rape","Sexual Assault","College","Advertising","Ads","campus rape"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Megan McCluskey","jobTitle":"Staff Writer","url":"https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4300008/college-acceptance-letter-ad-campus-sexual-assault/","name":"This Ad Uses College Acceptance Letters to Shed Light on Campus Sexual Assault"}}]}] ```