More than 750 University students lined up at the south end of the Lawn Friday to sign the #HoosGotYourBack pledge, a personal commitment to be active in the fight against sexual and gender-based violence.
This is the second year for the pledge. Last year, 702 students participated.
Will Henagan, a member of the Sexual Violence Prevention Coalition’s executive board, said he hoped the event would help start off the year by raising awareness for the #HoosGotYourBack and Not On Our Grounds campaigns.
The timing of the event should help raise awareness about a stretch of time early in the year known to sexual violence activists nationwide as the “red zone,” Henagan said.
“[The Red Zone] is the first six to eight weeks of the school year and it’s where 50 percent of all sexual assaults take place,” he said.
Many of the students at the rally were first-years, SVPC Internal Chair Liamarie Quinde said, helping advance SVPC’s efforts to have discussions with all incoming students.
“That is the goal — talking to first years and helping educate them about this right when they walk through the door,” the fourth-year Batten student said.
All the same, college is an important and formative time in one’s life and the SVPC does not intend to scare students with this information, Henagan said.
“We want to make sure people aren’t afraid to come to college,” Henagan said. “It’s just about being especially vigilant during this period.”
The event was an overall success, SVPC External Chair Sara Surface said, with a line extending at one point from the South Lawn to the dumpling cart. She said it is up to students to take the next step, though, and take action to help make the community safer.
“The pledge and the #HGYB campaign are reminders about what it means to be in a community with one another,” Surface said in an email statement. “It is up to our peers to remember this message and take action if they see a situation that doesn't look right.”
The SVPC is working this semester to develop general body meetings between its constituent organizations, Surface said, and hopes to start a committee which would deliver recommendations on inclusivity and diversity in peer education.
The organizations making up SVPC are taking individual steps to increase community sexual assault education — particularly during the red zone — including the Dorm Norms initiative started by One Less and One in Four.
— Owen Robinson contributed to reporting.
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