RV Tour Visits Ohio, Ilinois

Hello, everyone!

As October comes to a close, we're coming near the end of one of the most packed months of scheduling in One in Four's history.  RV Tour 4 has been literally moving all over the country to make this month happen, and we've certainly been having our share of adventures! 

After University at Buffalo we headed to University of Dayton, where we spent a few days training a new chapter of One in Four and presenting to their Greek life.  Over two days at Dayton, we trained a great group of guys and also had a strong showing of support from female student activists.  Everyone came together to learn more about the issue and to help plan how the new chapter at Dayton was going to make a difference.  It was awesome to work with such excited students!

Yet, no trip would be complete without a little RV fun.  On the night before we left Dayton, our generator became a little fussy and it eventually stopped working.  Ordinarily, this wouldn't be too much of a problem, but we needed some serious electrical power to get the RV back into driving form and we didn't have any time to spare - - we needed to be in Romeoville, IL to present at Lewis University early the next morning.

After tinkering with it for a while, we decided it was going to take some creative problem solving and soon contacted the Dayton Police.  We tossed around all kinds of ideas, but in the end we ran about 50 feet of heavy-duty extension cords from a nearby building, and transformed Cassie from home back into car.  From here, we were able to drive through the night (with a stop in our favorite White Castle in Gary, Indiana), drop off the RV to be serviced, pick up a car from Dan's very generous parents, and make it to Lewis on schedule the following morning.  Surely, it was one for the record books. 

At Lewis we had great audiences for all of our presentations over the next two days.  We spoke to faculty/staff, first year students, male athletes, and we were able to present the Women's Program to nearly all of Lewis' female athletes.  Our contact Teresa took excellent care of us (offering us wonderful food, which we always appreciate) and Dr. Mellman, the director of the Lewis Counseling Center, continually thanked us for our efforts. 

It's needless to say that our schedule has been pressing and that keeping the pace has been a fun and challenging experience for all four of us.  But without a doubt we've been humbled and inspired by the people we've met at every step of the way.  Whether it's leaving a new chapter of men who are now excited to take a stand against sexual violence, or having a survivor approach us after a presentation, we know that there is no other job in the world that we'd rather be working. 

Check back for our next post, in which we discuss: a presentation at University of Wisconsin-Madison in which 6 men approached us afterward, adamant about forming their own One in Four chapter - and a drive that began in chilly Minnesota and ended with us dipping our feet into the Gulf of Mexico.  Stay tuned!