By Emily Costantino, News Editor
Throughout the month of April, the VIP Center and the Title IX office hosted a slew of events to commemorate Sexual Assault Awareness Month.
The Title IX office facilitates listening and learning sessions during each semester to help inform the student body about issues surrounding on-campus sexual assault and gender-based violence. In honor of Sexual Assault Awareness Month, they provided two sessions during the month of April.
The first was held on April 12 and explained the importance of the Clery Act and how it impacts Title IX. On April 20, they held another information session titled “What does Title IX actually say about the participation of trans athletes?”
The Title IX office also took the time to create training sessions for three separate sports teams in order to inform them how to be better equipped to handle issues of sexual assault.
“Our office has been working individually with athletics teams throughout the semester to host Title IX trainings,” Title IX Coordinator Christiana Paradis said. “So far, in spring 2022, our office has offered 12 trainings reaching 241 students.”
The VIP Center made the week of April 18-22 a Survivor Supporting Week for Sexual Assault Awareness Month. During this week, they hosted several events including Tacos with Transitions, Chalk the Walk, Dog Days with Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS), Green Dot Overview and Take Back the Night.
“The tagline for our office is Prevent. Heal. Be Royal. We wanted to bring these components to campus this month,” Tyler Cox, Director of the VIP Center said.
“A big part of Sexual Assault Awareness Month is to break the stigma of sexual assault, dating violence and other forms of interpersonal conflict. Through our chalking, signs around campus, tabling events, and social media campaigns I really feel like we accomplished this.”
Cox especially highlighted the overall success and importance of their Take Back the Night event.
“In tandem with bringing awareness and promoting prevention, we also wanted to provide a space for survivors to come together, share, and find healing. We had eleven survivors attend and share their stories, listen to one another, and offer support. It was a beautiful space!” He said.
Cox wants the Susquehanna student body to be aware of other ways they can be involved in violence prevention outside of Sexual Assault Awareness Month. He explained that the VIP Center is building a volunteer team next semester that will be involved in planning events, providing peer support, and facilitating peer education.
If any students are interested, they can reach out to Tyler Cox at coxt@susqu.edu.
Aside from getting involved on campus, Cox reiterated that students can also help by just supporting each other.
“Listen. I think too often we jump into ‘fix’ mode when most of the time survivors just want someone to see them and believe them,” he said.
“Let them share their story with you uninterrupted and without judgment or victim blaming. If you are able, offer to help in any way you can and let the person know that you will support them in their next steps towards healing.”