Office of Communication and Public Affairs

Week dedicated to increase sexual assault awareness
Kevin Maher ’04

The week of April 22 featured the first Sexual Assault Awareness Week on campus sponsored by the Center for Health and Wellness Education Sexual Offense Support (SOS) Peer Educators. A variety of events were held throughout the week in several areas of campus to promote risk reduction and awareness.

The Clothesline Project debuted in the Italian Kitchen on Tuesday and appeared again on West and South campuses later in the week. The project included a clothesline with T-shirts hanging from it that were designed by students to commemorate victims of sexual assault. T-shirts and supplies were available to encourage more students to add to the clothesline as the week progressed.

On Wednesday evening the program moved to the Donahue dining hall where place settings memorializing victims of sexual assault were placed on tables. By sitting with the empty place, students were inclined to read the settings and see the suffering victims have endured.

Thursday offered a Candlelight Vigil in the Grotto as well as a Take Back the Night procession across campus sponsored by Public Safety and Peace and Justice. Joanna Gallagher, a sexual assault interventionist and rape aggression defense instructor, and Bernadette Callahan, a Women Against Rape (WAR) representative, were on hand as well as a sexual assault victim/survivor who spoke.

Information tables were also present in the Connelly Center Tuesday through Thursday with representatives from the community and our campus promoting knowledge of sexual assault and services for victims as well as information on healthy relationships, abstinence, sexual health and sexually transmitted diseases. Purple ribbons were also distributed to display support of sexual assault awareness.

Center for Health and Wellness Education Director Cathy Lovecchio explained,”The hard work of the SOS Peer Educators was demonstrated this week by the overwhelming response to the educational activities that they provided on campus. This week

commemorated the beginning of raising awareness about sexual assault on campus and to assisting victims of this crime.”

	Blueprints - May 2003 Edition
Homepage Back Archives	Blueprints - May 2003 Edition

		Week dedicated to increase sexual assault awareness Kevin Maher ’04 The week of April 22 featured the first Sexual Assault Awareness Week on campus sponsored by the Center for Health and Wellness Education Sexual Offense Support (SOS) Peer Educators. A variety of events were held throughout the week in several areas of campus to promote risk reduction and awareness. The Clothesline Project debuted in the Italian Kitchen on Tuesday and appeared again on West and South campuses later in the week. The project included a clothesline with T-shirts hanging from it that were designed by students to commemorate victims of sexual assault. T-shirts and supplies were available to encourage more students to add to the clothesline as the week progressed. On Wednesday evening the program moved to the Donahue dining hall where place settings memorializing victims of sexual assault were placed on tables. By sitting with the empty place, students were inclined to read the settings and see the suffering victims have endured. Thursday offered a Candlelight Vigil in the Grotto as well as a Take Back the Night procession across campus sponsored by Public Safety and Peace and Justice. Joanna Gallagher, a sexual assault interventionist and rape aggression defense instructor, and Bernadette Callahan, a Women Against Rape (WAR) representative, were on hand as well as a sexual assault victim/survivor who spoke. Information tables were also present in the Connelly Center Tuesday through Thursday with representatives from the community and our campus promoting knowledge of sexual assault and services for victims as well as information on healthy relationships, abstinence, sexual health and sexually transmitted diseases. Purple ribbons were also distributed to display support of sexual assault awareness. Center for Health and Wellness Education Director Cathy Lovecchio explained,”The hard work of the SOS Peer Educators was demonstrated this week by the overwhelming response to the educational activities that they provided on campus. This week commemorated the beginning of raising awareness about sexual assault on campus and to assisting victims of this crime.”