SAVE All Week Of Action
Samantha Latos
For The Clock
slatos@plymouth.edu
From April 3rd to April 7th, SAVE All will be hosting a Week of Action. SAVE All is a PSU club that aims to spread education and awareness of sexual assault. It stands for Sexual Assault and Violence Education Alliance. The group stands to protect basic human rights, as well as to offer advocacy.
Events will take place every day next week to reach as many people as possible. The events will be hosted by the SAVE All team, including their President, Paige Schoppmann. They got extra help with scheduling from Christine McElreavy, and It's On Us, the national campaign that Paige is a regional core team member of. All of their hard work will be shown within the interactive and informative activities.
The SAVE All Week of Action is offered each semester here at PSU. The idea originated from the It's On Us campaign. There are student
leaders from each state, who all lead the event at the same time in their communities. Paige is especially confident in SAVE All’s abilities. “We have a really tight knit group and I am unbelievably thankful," she said, “This couldn't have happened without them”. All of the events will be open to all students.
Starting on Monday, the SAVE All team will be hosting a bake sale at the tables in the HUB. They will be there and accepting donations from 12pm to 4pm. Later, at 7p.m., they will be offering a Night of Conversation. It will be a safe space for open discussion, and to answer any questions about sexual assault. Janette Wiggett, Steven Temperino, and Mark Fischler will attend to provide information and guidance. Those who attend will get insight and clarity, as well as free pizza.
On Tuesday, from 12p.m. to 3p.m., they will be in the HUB handing out brochures, flyers and handmade teal ribbons. Teal is the designated color for sexual assault awareness. This will spread information, providing insight into this pressing issue. Later that night at 8p.m., SAVE All will be partnering with the Poets and Writers club, hosting a Poetry Night/Open Mic Night in the Fireplace Lounge in the HUB.
On Wednesday, they will host a movie night at 7p.m. in Hyde Hall room 120. They will play The Hunting Ground, which is a film about sexual assault on college campuses. “It's very emotional, but very informative," Paige said, “It is also not a great idea to watch the film alone, because there is so much to talk about and digest, that it might be better to be with people who care and are there to discuss post-movie.” Although the film is hard to watch, some feel very inspired by it. “It shows many strong females that have been affected by sexual assault, and after watching it, it's very common to feel ready to take on the world," Paige said, “Later in the semester, we'll be hosting a Bystander Intervention/How to Defend Yourself event with RAD, so we're definitely keeping female empowerment on our radar." Sexual assault awareness protects the rights of women and men, and also gives women a sense of dignified power. For the comfort of those who attend, SAVE All will provide snacks, and an optional discussion that will take place immediately after the movie.
There will be Paint Your Heart Out event on Thursday, in the HUB room 119, from 12p.m. to 5p.m.. Students are welcomed to drop by to show their support for sexual assault awareness. There will have a large canvas, a representative from Voices Against Violence, and lots of paint. The event is meant to reach anybody who has been affected by sexual assault in any way. “If it happened to you, to someone you know, or you're really passionate about preventing it, or anything of the sort, come to our event and put your handprint on the canvas," Paige said, “Later in the semester, we're hosting a Take Back the Night event with the Criminal Justice Organization, and we'll have an unveiling of this emotional and meaningful art at the event." Students are encouraged to participate, to publicly announce their support for this cause. The more handprints, the more impactful the finished painting will be.
On Friday, they will be hosting a Picnic and Frisbee event on the Mary Lyon lawn at 2p.m. Food and lively activities will be available, rain or shine. It’s meant to celebrate the success of the week.
Paige believes that these events are important because of the topic matter. In order to be utilized, sexual assault awareness must be discussed, and given the attention it deserves. “It's a very hard conversation to have, and can be taxing on people's emotions and bodies, but I want SAVE All to be a safe, comfortable place where people can discuss it and go through the conversation together, rather than feeling alone,” she said, “Sexual assault needs to stop being stigmatized and hidden, and the only way that we can begin to make the conversation louder and more empowered, is to have people come to these events.” People must take these events into consideration in order to spread awareness, in the hopes of decreasing the rate of sexual assault, on and off college campuses.
The bake sale, distribution of teal ribbons, the Night of Conversation and the Hunting Ground screening all took place in the Fall Week of Action. However, the picnic, Poetry Night/ Open Mic Night, and the Paint Your Heart Out events are all new. For anyone who is interested in becoming an active advocate for sexual assault awareness, SAVE All meets every Wednesday from 8p.m. to 9p.m. in Hyde Hall room 234.