News
SAVES organizes events for April
By Emily Eisler ’17
April 6, 2017
Tags news
April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month, and Hamilton’s Sexual Assault and Violence Education and Support organization, SAVES, has a month of programming planned to bring awareness and educate students on the importance of sexual misconduct prevention as well as the necessity of consent in all sexual situations.
Helena LaPorte-Burns ’18, the Outreach Chair of SAVES, outlined the month’s programming: “SAVES will continue to have weekly meetings open to all students that will serve as a place to talk about education and prevention. Besides putting together a video that will hopefully educate our community about Hamilton’s Title IX policies, we are also working to present the ‘It’s On Us’ campaign. We also have Peer Advocate training, ‘The Clothesline’ project, the human chain and survivor story readings.” Several of these events happen every year, with SAVES partnering in the past with SAAC and other organizations to come up with more interdisciplinary programming each year. The newest innovation this year is the slideshow SAVES is creating as a new way bring awareness to students.
LaPorte-Burns went on to describe the importance of students understanding more about Title IX and how the school policies surrounding it work, “I believe it is important for students to not only be aware of our Title IX policies, but also to know that these policies are constantly evolving and that the students have the power to impact them. These policies are relevant to everyone on campus, whether or not a student has direct contact with the procedures. These policies are in place to ensure that each student is learning in a safe environment.” LaPorte-Burns hopes that students will pledge to stop sexual assault and violence as a community, as well as become more present and engaged within the movement to end the problem of sexual harassment and assault at Hamilton and on other college campuses.