Two student-run organizations that work to prevent sexual assault on Grounds, One Less and One in Four, have merged into one joint organization — Culture of Respect Educators, or CORE. As separate organizations in the past, One Less was comprised of female and gender-nonconforming students, while One in Four was comprised of students who identified as males.
CORE is run by its two co-presidents, fourth-year College students Olivia Buckle and Garrison Grow. Last year, Buckle was a member of the executive board of One Less as the organization’s selections chair, and Grow was the vice president of One in Four.
According to an email statement sent to The Cavalier Daily by Buckle and Grow, the groups combined to form CORE in order to achieve several goals, one of which was inclusivity. CORE allows individuals of any gender identity to unite within a community of education, advocacy and prevention at the University.
“Sexual violence is a human issue, the resolution of which demands active participation of all members of our community — regardless of their gender identity,” Buckley and Grow said.
Claire Kaplan, the Program Director for Gender Violence and Social Change at the Women’s Center, has worked with One in Four and One Less in the past on training and other projects such as Take Back the Night, an event where students learn about the sexual violence reporting process, agreed.
“I think it's important for students to see men and women working together on this issue,” Kaplan said in an interview with The Cavalier Daily.
Kaplan also noted that the group plans to continue single-sex presentations.
“There is definitely a place for single-sex presentations, which they are going to keep doing anyway, so it's just that [One in Four and One Less] are collaborating instead of feeling a little competitive,” Kaplan said.
Noah Strike, a second-year College student and president of the University’s Planned Parenthood Generation Action chapter, said that students of all gender identities should address sexual violence as one, adding that it makes advocacy more accessible for gender-nonconforming students.
“It's a great step forward in terms of inclusivity for queer students,” Strike said. “Especially because a lot of queer kids like myself don't necessarily feel comfortable in gender exclusive environments, like a fraternity or sorority, so it was sort of exclusionary to students who wanted to get involved with sexual assault education and advocacy.”
Strike also spoke on behalf of the executive board of the Planned Parenthood Generation Action chapter, saying their goals aligned closely with those behind the creation of CORE. Strike noted that his group has a similar mission, as they are also concerned with education and advocacy about issues of sexual assault and sexual health in general.
“[The executive board] was thrilled that CORE was moving toward a more gender-inclusive and more standardized environment,” Strike said. “We think that it's a great step forward on Grounds for organizations that are involved with these issues.”
Kaplan was also was excited about the possibilities presented by the merger.
“There's a lot of potential to do additional programming and to extend the work that they do,” Kaplan said in an interview with the Cavalier Daily.
Buckle and Grow also believe that merging the two organizations will allow for a more uniform and amplified message as they restructure their organization’s means of preventing sexual violence on Grounds.
“This merger also provided the opportunity for us to reorient our focus toward promoting a culture of sexual respect on Grounds and pivot away from prevention efforts alone,” Buckley and Grow stated.
In order to promote a culture of sexual respect, CORE is currently working with first-year students through the group’s “Dorm Norms” presentations.
“To end sexual and gender-based violence, we need to first confront our culture and the ways in which it perpetuates such violence,” Buckley and Grow said in an email statement to The Cavalier Daily.
Buckley and Grow explained that Dorm Norms is designed to educate first-year students about sexual violence as well as to grow “community norms of sexual respect” within first-year residential halls.
Dorm Norms joins other on-Grounds sexual assault prevention presentations, such as Hoos Got Your Back, a student-run initative that focuses on being an active bystander and promoting a culture of sexual respect.
CORE’s recruiting process will occur throughout September and October.
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