In response to the recent dialogue over the lawsuit and the larger ongoing conversation about Sexual Assault on our campus and beyond, the Students for Consent and Communication (SFCC) want to make ourselves available to you, our fellow students, alumni, faculty, staff and community members, as a resource and a partner in combating sexual violence.

Sexual Assault happens to people of all genders, sexual orientations, ability, ethnicities, and races. It happens all over campus: not just in Greek Houses. We, the SFCC, want the campus to know that we support survivors, we support people working on this issue, we support change, we support the administration making changes to its current policy, we support the work of the Sexual Assault Response Team, we support students trying to change their attitudes toward violence on campus, but most of all we support action to stop this horrible epidemic of violence.

We have been working for several years as an independent student group in conjunction with the University and other interested parties to address specific policy concerns and make positive changes. In addition to several programs we have put on this year, we are also looking forward to meeting with President Roth in the coming weeks regarding our specific concerns. We want to offer ourselves as a resource to the community as a whole. We stand for action and change and we invite you to stand with us. There are simple ways you can end rape culture at Wesleyan and in the world:

Call people out when they propagate rape culture (i.e. I raped that test, ze deserved it)

Take time to read and review sexual assault reporting protocol at Wesleyan so that you can help a friend and refer hir to the right resources (http://www.wesleyan.edu/healthservices/sexualassault/sart.html)

Attend a Bystander intervention Training or Consent workshop to learn more about the issues on campus and how you can help

Support survivors of sexual violence by remembering that sexual assault is never the survivors fault

Pledge to be an active bystander and intervene when you see something wrong

Keep the dialogue going and talk to your friends about what is happening on campus

April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month, while it is important to note the significance of this month it is also worth noting that our campus should support survivors and stand for action all year round. In honor of the month we do have several events planned. The largest and most significant event is Take Back the Night (TBTN), which is a global movement to end sexual violence. This year our event seeks to incorporate more voices and more ideas. This year’s event will take place on Thursday April 24th, please consider coming out and showing your support for survivors. We are preparing to meet with the administration about the University’s Sexual Assault policy, and if you or your organization wants to voice any concerns or if you want to join the conversation about sexual violence please feel free to attend one our weekly meetings and if you have suggestions, comments, or want to learn how you or your organization can get involved please email us.

Signed,

Nina Gurak ‘16 and Caillin Puente ‘15
Students For Consent and Communication Presidents
ngurak@wesleyan.edu cpuente@wesleyan.edu

Nina Gurak is a member of the Class of 2016 and Caillin Puente is a member of the Class of 2015.