Guest Column: Sexual Assault Awareness Month Challenge from Deans of Students Office

Sexual assault. Consent. Date rape. These have become buzzwords in recent years, owing in part to the media’s greater coverage of sexual assault on college campuses. This coverage has increased for good reason: according to a 2014 White House report one in five women has been sexually assaulted while in college. Wisconsin Law defines sexual assault as sexual intercourse or sexual contact with a person without the consent of that person.
So what is your campus doing to address these issues?
Among other things, UW-Platteville has hired me, Jessi Ensenberger, the Prevention and Education Coordinator in the Dean of Students Office. I provide education on alcohol, drugs and sexual violence.
My allies on campus have helped me plan Sexual Assault Awareness Month events for students this April. These events, which can be found on a calendar below, will answer some tough questions:
How do you get consent during a hook-up? And what if alcohol is involved? (Speaking of Sex, April 12.)
How do I keep my friends and myself safe? (Women’s Wellness Conference, April 18; Bystander Intervention Video Premiere, April 30.)
What are the local and on-campus resources for survivors? (Resource Fair, April 12.)
What about men? How are they affected, and how can they help? (Are You Man Enough?, April 7; The Mask You Live In film screening, April 21.)
Comedian Lily Tomlin famously said, “I always wondered why somebody didn’t do something about that; then I realized I am somebody.”
I challenge you to be somebody.
I challenge you to be the change you’d like to see on campus.
I challenge every student to attend at least one event this April.
That event could help you intervene to stop a sexual assault before it starts. It could make you a resource for a survivor. It could spark a student-led consent campaign or a campus-wide conversation about rape myths.
But it all starts with you.

Jessi Ensenberger
608.342.1854
Prevention & Education Coordinator
Dean of Students Office, UW-Platteville

See the Sexual Assault Awareness Month event calendar below!