“It’s On Us”—a conversation about our responsibility to prevent sexual assaults—is a conversational workshop that will give students the opportunity to express their opinion about sexual assaults on college campuses. The event is being organized by the LEAD Student Program and will take place in Marillac Hall 135 this Wednesday.
“That is a workshop designed to introduce students to the ‘It’s On Us’ program at St. John’s,” said Director of Media Relations Elizabeth Reilly in an email interview.
Faculty are not the only ones who would like to talk about the current situation on college campuses. Many students are excited for the opportunity to express themselves and find a solution to the situation.
“I’m excited to go to this event. I went to the ‘Hunting Ground’ screening last month, but we didn’t have time to talk about it,” said television and film junior Ashley Rodriguez. “This definitely will give many of us [students] the chance to talk and let our voice be heard.”
The “It’s On Us” awareness campaign was first launched by the White House in an attempt to end sexual assaults on college campuses in September 2014. The campaign consists of asking everyone in a university community to be part of the solution to this problem that has affected many universities nationwide.
According to a survey from the Association of American Universities, 23.1% of female undergraduates experienced some kind of sexual assault and 11.7% of student respondents across 27 universities reported experiencing non-consensual contact since they enrolled at their universities.
The event page on the St. John’s website highlights the mission in the “It’s On Us” campaign and explains what students will hopefully learn.
“LEAD Student Program wants students to be aware through this event that as leaders in college, we hold a responsibility to help change the current statistics about sexual violence on campuses around the country,” writes the website.
The “It’s On Us” conversation is part of a series of LEAD events.
“It’s important that people be aware of how to prevent sexual assaults on college campuses especially since it is a common problem that hasn’t been fully addressed,” senior Isabel Mendez said. “And, I believe the ‘It’s On Us’ campaign is doing the job.”
