Dariel Benton-Updike, 21, a rising senior at Temple University, is proving that one person can make a difference. Benton-Updike, who grew up in Mt. Airy and Cheltenham and graduated from Germantown Friends School, is working to combat sexual harassment on SEPTA, Philadelphia's public transportation system.

Her journey began in a Feminist Theory course at Temple. For an assignment, students had to write a persuasive essay about a social issue and send it to someone with the power to effect change.

"I chose to write my essay about the extensive sexual harassment I have experienced on SEPTA since high school," Benton-Updike said. "I also detailed some higher-profile cases of sexual assault against employees and riders in recent years. In the essay, I called for SEPTA to take stronger action to prevent sexual harassment and assault."

SEPTA has faced increasing challenges in recent years. In June, it reverted to issuing summary citations for fare evaders, forcing them to appear before a judge and face possible fines or community service. Transit police have issued more than 700 summary citations in the two months since then. SEPTA also raised ticket fines from $25 to $100 for smoking, public urination and other anti-social behavior.

SEPTA Transit Police Inspector James Zuggi said recently, "Most, if not all of the perpetrators are fare evaders ... It may not always be a major crime. Sometimes it's smoking on a train or using narcotics, but we want to address that at the gate."

Benton-Updike sent her letter to city officials and several SEPTA senior administrators, including CEO Leslie Richards. "To my amazement," she said, "she replied and said that she and other higher-ups would love to meet with me to discuss how SEPTA could move forward with more efforts in sexual harassment and assault prevention. Those conversations with Leslie and her team led to me being offered the opportunity to complete the internship requirement for my major at SEPTA."

Benton-Updike made specific suggestions to SEPTA officials. She proposed taking inspiration from Bay Area Rapid Transit's "Not One More Girl" campaign, a comprehensive harassment and assault-prevention initiative. She also called for adding language to the customer Code of Conduct specifically prohibiting sexual harassment and assault, as well as clearer instructions on how to report sexual violence on transit.

Her internship, initially part-time in the spring, became full-time this summer. She recently completed a research project that included 11 long-form interviews with Temple students about sexual harassment and assault on SEPTA, which inspired a larger-scale "Safety on SEPTA" survey for Temple students that has generated almost 200 responses.

Benton-Updike presented preliminary data to SEPTA executives in the spring and will present her research to them again soon. She also contributed to SEPTA's official Safety Survey administered this spring, which broke the record for their consumer-research response rate with over 10,000 participants.

Additionally, she composed a more comprehensive organizational definition of sexual harassment and sexual assault. "Sexual misconduct takes many forms," she said, "and I wanted to ensure that our definition was as clear and specific as possible. That language is now being utilized SEPTA-wide in the Code of Conduct and our consumer research, and will soon be appearing on new signage."

Emmanuella Myrthil, SEPTA's chief culture and social impact officer, praised Benton-Updike's work: "Dariel has been such an asset to our cultural work here at SEPTA ... Dariel's steadfastness to see things through will no doubt improve the quality of life for so many others that her work will impact. It's been a profound gift having her on our team."

Missy Dow, manager of corporate strategy at SEPTA, added, "Despite her short time with us, Dariel has significantly impacted multiple areas. Through our Women's Safety Committee, she has been instrumental in updating our Code of Conduct to address sexual harassment, offering valuable gender-inclusive insights to various projects and contributing to the team that conducted and analyzed our largest rider safety survey to date."

Len Lear can be reached at lenlear@chestnuthilllocal.com.