Plymouth State Speaks Out at the March Against Violence

If one were to guess where most college students would be at 9:30 am on the Saturday of "Halloween Weekend," one of the biggest college party weekends across the country, they probably wouldn't say speaking out against domestic violence and sexual assault. However, that is precisely what approximately 75 Plymouth State University students and area residents were doing on Oct. 29, 2011.

PSU's March Against Violence was a joint effort of the S.A.G.E. Center, the Wellness Center, University Police Department, and Voices Against Violence, and was aimed to raise campus and community responsiveness around the issue of sexual assault and domestic violence.

March participants gathered outside of the HUB to follow a one-mile route around the campus and parts of Plymouth to bring awareness and attention to the issue of sexual assault and domestic violence.

Delilah Smith, Coordinator of the S.A.G.E. Center on campus says that it often takes a tragedy to bring a community together around the issue of violence and sexual assault. The point of these anti-violence events is to bring the community together before something tragic happens.

While the interest and support of the community is important, Smith also says that the policies and procedures surrounding sexual assault and domestic violence within the school need to be changed.

"The whole system needs a little bit of work. This involves the S.A.G.E. center, UPD, the Judicial Office, Voices Against Violence, all of the key players. We need to figure out how to create a little more effective and more streamlined response to this. Right now it's kind of blurry what will happen to you if you've been assaulted." Events such as Saturday's March Against Violence is just one piece of the puzzle in getting the campus and community more involved.

Molly Donlan, a sophomore at PSU and the coordinator of the March, says this year she aims to create events that will catch the interest of students. "This year we [were] really trying to make things fun enough for people to wake up on the Saturday of Halloween weekend," says Donlan, who believes that any lack of participation from students doesn't come from not caring, but rather not being interested in the events.

Donlan is the Special Events Coordinator at the S.A.G.E. Center, and says that she focuses many of her events around sexual assault and domestic violence, because they are issues that she feels need attention.

Psi Beta Gamma, one of the several Greek organizations present at the March, is certainly doing its part to raise awareness about domestic violence and sexual assault. The sorority works closely with Voices Against Violence, and encourages all members to be present at events like the March Against Violence.

Jessica Green, a PSU student and sister of Psi Beta Gamma said "it's important to be here, and support it, and show that you care."