Raising awareness for victims of sexual assault
By Faith Foushee// Staff Writer
In the first week of April, the Title IX Student Organization and the Office of Student Life hosted Sexual Assault Awareness Week to educate people on the importance of consent and start a campus-wide conversation.
“Sexual Assault Awareness Week is a time to start a conversation, a time for growth and a time for a change,” said Tucker Wilson, the social media manager for the Title IX Student Organization. “Our goal as the Title IX Student Organization is to bring the issues of Title IX to the forefront of campus conversation. We aim to not only erase the stigma of sexual assault, but also to talk about consent.”
The theme of the week was “I Ask,” and Wilson shared what that means by saying, “The theme opens up the conversation for students to ask for consent, ask by believing survivors, ask to be more than a bystander and so much more.” Wilson, a survivor of sexual assault, is very passionate about the week and hopes to heighten the awareness while making people feel comfortable to have conversations because this is a problem that can affect any person.
The week-long events kicked off when students had the opportunity to stop by the kiosks on the way to class and grab an “I Ask” t-shirt, teal ribbon, and other handouts. One of the gifts focused on consent, including what it is, what it is not, how to ask, and why consent matters. Also, students set up displays about sexual assault for other students to view as they passed by in hopes of beginning a conversation.
Tuesday was referred to as “Teal Tuesday” for students to wear the teal shirt they picked up at the kiosks. The purpose of wearing teal on Tuesday was to get students curious and start a conversation through the effort. Students and faculty wearing their teal shirts joined together to take a big group photo.
By the middle of the week, the activists had provided the opportunity for students and faculty to gain more knowledge about the impacts of sexual assault on High Point University’s campus. Elaine Pasqua, a five-time nominee for “Best Speaker of the Year” for Campus Activities Magazine Readers Choice Awards, was invited to campus to speak on the issue of sexual assault. She spoke about her 25 years of experience fighting sexual assault.
Thursday concluded SAAW with a visual display in the Extraordinaire Cinema. There was an art piece titled, “What Were You Wearing?” that displayed what people were wearing when they were sexually assaulted. Many of the pieces are not what you would expect, such as running shorts and a t-shirt. After the art display, the documentary “It Happened Here” was shown.
“It has been incredible to see the student body’s positive response to awareness events,” said Niamh Tattersall, the founder of the Title IX Student Organization. “It is truly inspiring to see students from all different groups and organizations come together to support sexual assault awareness. It makes me extremely thankful to be part of the HPU community.”
HPU staff and students standing together against sexual assault. Photo by Faith Foushee