The University's student-run sexual assault education organizations are now collaborating their efforts through the newly-formed Sexual Assault Leadership Council. The Council is made up of student leaders from Sexual Assault Facts and Education, One in Four and Peer Health Educators. These groups still will operate individually, but their leaders will meet with the Council to facilitate communication among the groups.
On Friday, leaders from these organizations presented their programs for the other groups, faculty and administrators. This larger group will meet today to offer feedback about the presentations.
There will be "discussions within the group about how the presentations can be more effective," said Martha Rutkowski, SAFE's representative to the Council.
Offering constructive criticism about each other's programming is the first step in the Council members' long-term collaborative efforts, Rutkowski said.
"Working together you cover more ground," she said.
The three sexual assault groups had become fairly competitive with one another, but the Council may alleviate this tension, she added.
"Instead of being territorial, we can feel confident in the other groups' [presentations] and that [each presentation] could build on" the others, Rutkowski said.
Having the groups working together is especially important on an issue like sexual assault because of its seriousness and urgency, she said.
Before the formation of the Council, each group was often uninformed about the other groups' activities, she added.
Since the groups are working on the same issue, "it's like the right hand should know what the left hand is doing," Rutkowski said.
The Council's next project will be to use funds from the three assault education groups to make a card-sized resource flier to distribute around Grounds.
The flier will include phone numbers for students to find safe rides home as well as helplines for sexual assault victims.
The Council developed after Dean of Students Penny Rue assembled a group of sexual assault education activists, faculty and administrators in November.
"I felt an appropriate role as Dean of Students was to create an environment where collaboration is more likely," Rue said.
The students at the meeting then decided to form the Council, which held its first meeting in December.
Because the Council consists only of students who are leaders in sexual assault education groups, it should be an effective way of preventing overlapping in the groups' programs, Rutkowski said.
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