The Knights of Columbus, and AFIRMS are about as dissimilar as any two campus groups at Georgetown. The first is a longstanding pro-life Catholic fraternity, the second a group of mostly female students committed to changing the University’s policies regarding sexual assault. Yet both organizations are committed, in their own ways, to making this campus a better place to live.
They, along with the Georgetown University Student Association, the FRIENDS initiative, Health Education Services, Residence Life, Center for Student Programs, Center for Minority Educational Affairs, and the Women’s Center, have joined up to address sexual assault on campus.
Specifically, they are sponsoring the first project of the Peer Awareness Regarding Transition Year (PARTY), the new “R U Ready?” program. The program, which took place last night, takes sexual assault out of its stereotypical context-dark alleyways and bad neighborhoods-and forces students to look at it on a personal level. It included a panel of four male and female students who spoke on how sexual assault has affected their lives. Following the panels, the participants broke into groups to discuss the testimonials, led by facilitators.
Of the four speakers, two are victims of sexual assault, and two are the friends and family of people who have been sexually assaulted. The forum not only educated participants on how sexual assault has affected their lives, but it also addressed how friends and family can help. This practical approach will help students realize that sexual assault can affect anyone. Past programs have used hypothetical situations and “what-ifs” to try to encourage students to contemplate this issue. Having students speak candidly about their experiences has the potential to be far more effective.
The diverse group of organizations sponsoring this event demonstrates how important this issue is to the student body. It is a mark of the fundamental decency of the campus community than in an environment as politically diverse as Georgetown, student groups from across the political spectrum can unite to promote and support a worthy cause.
