“Ah, sunny Florida.” That was the feeling we had as we stepped off the RV and into 75-degree sunshine. Coming off a few extended trips through Illinois, Wisconsin, and Minnesota, we were thankful we were able to enjoy such a rejuvenating temperature change. Plus, there was no better venue for us to recharge than the “2007 National Conference on Sexual Assault in Our Schools,” which is hosted annually by the Safe Society Zone. Members of the One in Four chapter at William and Mary regularly come to this conference to present the Men’s Program, and so we were all delighted to see some familiar Williamsburg faces. We were also excited to see what new things were happening in the field of violence prevention. The conference is a unique blend of fun and inspiration, in which people working in this issue can come together to share experiences and learn from each other.
We presented One in Four’s new program, “The Women’s Program,” and were very enthusiastic by the feedback we received about it. It was a packed session, and people with many different perspectives gave us written feedback; some even stayed late to speak with us afterwards. We received many great ideas that we will incorporate into the program, if they haven’t been already. A special thanks goes out to our friends from Catharsis Productions that took extra time to share their insights with us - - you all rock!
Following the final panel session, we said our goodbyes to the W&M One in Four chapter members and then made a beeline for the campus of Franklin and Marshall in Lancaster, PA. Here we trained a group of about 20 students – which seemed to have been drawn from every corner of campus – to form the newest chapter of One in Four. We worked hard over the two-day training, and we left with a very good feeling about these guys. Not only were they the largest group we’ve trained this year, but they were also the most diverse: there were student athletes, fraternity members, international students, and numerous other campus organizations are represented in their chapter. Best of all, each guys’ passion really showed. We shared a lot of laughs, and we look forward to hearing good things from them soon.
After we left Franklin and Marshall, the RV was again quickly on the move, this time to Denison University in Granville, Ohio. Here we worked with one of the first established Women’s Studies programs in the country, who had us speak with classes of students and give one presentation specifically to athletes. It was especially fun to speak to the Women’s Studies classes because they were in the middle of covering topics such as “feminist activism” or “violence against women,” so they were able to ask us pointed questions about the content of our presentations. The candid Q&A with the students in Prof. Toni King’s class was awesome (Thanks, Toni!). Denison was also one of the most beautiful campuses we’ve seen yet; the combination of the hilly landscape and the Ohio fall foliage made for some breathtaking views.
From DU, we trekked way up north again to the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire. We gave several presentations that day, which was a Friday, and were surprised to see that our presentation room was packed with students before our 8 A.M. presentation started. Even more surprising was that our 5 P.M. program also had a strong showing. How Wisconsin was able to motivate students to attend anything at 5 P.M. on a Friday, we’ll never know; but when some of these students openly shared that they have been supporting survivors in their lives and wanted to learn more about how to help them, it made us energized to know that we were able make a difference for them.
Needless to say, we’ve been hitting the road pretty hard over the month of October and into the month of November. Two cool milestones to consider: we’ve made 22 stops so far at universities, colleges, one military base, and one national conference. We’ve also seen every state east of the Mississippi River save for Maine, Vermont, and Rhode Island. Soon we’ll post the actual number of presentations we’ve given, and the number of people we’ve reached thus far. Stay tuned for our next post about our day in the West Point Military Academy!
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