Hundreds of colleges and universities are asking incoming freshmen about their sexual history—part of a federally mandated effort to curtail sexual assaults on campus.

“The more information they (schools) have about the behaviors of their students, the more they can tailor to the needs of their particular campus,” says Jeremy Beckman, who heads CampusClarity, an organization that’s helping schools navigate new federal laws. “To be absolutely clear, the data is de-identified; [neither] we as an organization, nor the schools, have the ability to see who responded to these questions in what way.”

Beckman adds that the questions aren’t an initiative of CampusClarity. “The Campus SaVE Act (the name of the federal law) is also going to strongly suggest universities take a campus climate survey…so the types of questions we’re asking are right in line with what schools are going to ask anyway.” (MTV)

Paul Asay has written for The Washington Post, Christianity Today, Beliefnet.com and The (Colorado Springs) Gazette. He writes about culture for PluggedIn and wrote the Batman book God on the Streets of Gotham (Tyndale). He recently collaborated with Jim Daly, president of Focus on the Family, on his book The Good Dad. He lives in Colorado Springs with wife, Wendy, and his two children. Check out his entertainment blog at Patheos.com/blogs/WatchingGod or follow him on Twitter.