On October 9th, a group of dedicated Southwestern students, staff, faculty, and community members gathered in the Mccombs ballrooms to discuss an extremely important yet stigmatized issue–the prevalence of dating violence, domestic violence, stalking, and sexual assault on campus. 

Led by Randall Ischy (He/They), Project Director for Violence Prevention and Response, the meeting set out to define the goals of the group, as well as establishing the importance of the taskforce. We learned that the university had applied for a grant through the United States Justice Department, through the Office on Violence Against Women. He noted that the grant was angled specifically towards assisting women, LGBTQ+ individuals, and people of color on campus. 

Next we went over the basic requirements of the grant. The university must plan to invest in new prevention education, which will help students detect the signs of sexual assault and also clearly explain how to defend campus from such acts. It also must plan to enact new law enforcement training and the expansion of school resources. They must also create a Coordinated Community Response Team (CCRT), which is what this taskforce will eventually become. The conversation around CCRT led the group to discuss a variety of select ideas, such as what our efforts should or will look like, what kind of policy introductions or changes should take place, and a variety of different recognition or prevention training methods.  

After this educational review, we participated in a series of interactive polls, which allowed the group to anonymously discuss their own experiences, opinions, or questions. This helped open the floor up to more discussion. One of the largest talking points was the lack of male-identifying students in the conversation–none of the students who were present at this first meeting were men. Furthermore, very few students were athletes, and only one student present was representative of Greek life. This led to a talk on how to get groups from campus more involved. Specifically, men’s athletics, Greek life, upper level administration, resident life, and faculty from a variety of departments. Our mission was set: How do we get people to trust the resources the campus offers, and how do we make the campus safer for everyone?

Participants ended the meeting with a clearer goal on what the future of the taskforce will look like, and what the agenda of the next meeting will be. Members specifically mentioned feeling “hopeful” that Southwestern applied for the grant in the first place, calling it a “step in the right direction” for the university. By putting in the effort to continue outreach, expand educational programs, and put prevention methods into place, Southwestern will become a safer place for all.

The next meeting will take place November 14th, 12pm-1pm in the Connie Ballroom (second floor of Mccombs Campus Center). Any and every member of the Southwestern community is welcome to attend! If you have any questions, comments, or concerns, reach out to Randall Ischy at ischyr@southwestern.edu.