Donald Trump declared during Sunday’s debate that remarks about sexually groping women were – as he put it – “just words” but at Illinois State University, there is a concerted effort to change the campus culture so students, faculty and staff chose their words more carefully.
Violence Prevention Coordinator Amanda Papinchock, was hired as part of an expanded education effort to prevent sexual assault and dating/domestic violence. Her focus on athletes and Greek student life leaders became clear during a recent panel discussion that followed the screening of a documentary called, The Hunting Ground about sexual assault on college campuses.
The documentary, which was first shown a couple of years ago at ISU, prompted Student Government Leaders to create a campus campaign called It’s On Us to keep men and women safe from sexual violence.
Additionally, Papinchock has been holding two-hour trainings once a week with newly-enrolled student athletes since the beginning of the summer. Topics include boundaries, what is sexual consent, the effects of alcohol and drugs, how to talk to a partner, and how to intervene as a bystander to potentially violent or inappropriate situations.
Students Teaching Students
Papinchock also serves as an advisor to peer educators and told WGLT’s Correspondent Colleen Reynolds in a Sound Ideas interview that she is working on developing peer educators among student athletes.
“They can kind of encourage the respectful, safe and overall caring environment within the athletic community but also the entire campus community because we know that they are seen as leaders on campus,” she said. She’s taking the same approach in asking Greek life leaders to consider a peer educator initiative because she believes students will listen more to each other than to faculty or staff.
According to Papinchock, “What’s most important is to have the peers have those conversations and know how to address specific situations. So they’re coming in with a plan for what they envision with the group and how it can be managed.”
