Ep. 12 - The Consent Crisis on College Campuses: Alexander Ott on Building Aegis Consent & Preventing Sexual Violence

What if a single conversation could prevent a lifetime of trauma? In this episode, Dr. Lynn Tress sits down with Alexander Ott, co-founder and Chief Operating Officer of Aegis Consent — a personal safety platform helping people establish, communicate, and verify affirmative consent in real time — and Director of Communications at PASS Worldwide (People Advocating Sexual Safety).

Alexander shares the deeply personal story that sparked this mission: witnessing the sexual victimization of a close friend at his boarding school, the administration's attempt to silence the witnesses, and the years-long journey that followed — from self-destruction to advocacy to building a tool now launching on college campuses this fall, including UCLA.

Together, Dr. Tress and Alexander unpack:

• The "Red Zone" — why 80% of campus sexual violence happens between the first week of school and Thanksgiving break
• Why 90% of physically intimate college encounters happen without any conversation about boundaries
• The SEC method: Stop, Evaluate, Communicate
• Why nonverbal cues are not consent — and what actually counts as affirmative consent
• Consent, alcohol, and drugs: the legal gray zones between states
• How institutions silence victims and witnesses — and what accountability should look like
• Teaching self-advocacy and bodily autonomy starting in early childhood
• The Aegis-Bond partnership for real-time personal safety alerts
• Why "prevention is invisible when it works"

This is a candid, necessary conversation about consent, trauma, institutional betrayal, and what real cultural change could look like — starting with one honest conversation at a time.

Guest: Alexander Ott, Co-Founder & COO, Aegis Consent | Director of Communications, PASS Worldwide
Topics: sexual consent, affirmative consent, campus sexual assault, Title IX, sexual violence prevention, boundaries, PTSD, self-advocacy, college safety, consent education