One in Four to host weeklong series of events

by Kara Rodemer / contributing writer

For the first time, One in Four is launching a week of events to promote its White Ribbon Campaign of men working to end men’s violence against women.

The group will be on the commons today through Wednesday from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. It will be asking JMU men to sign a pledge of non-violence against women and wear a white ribbon in representation, senior Grant Schafer, One in Four president, said.

On Monday, One in Four members will present "The Men’s Program: How to Help a Sexual Assault Survivor" as a Wellness Passport event in Integrated Science and Technology Building room 136 at 8 p.m. The audience will see a police officer rape-prevention training video followed by a discussion connecting the video with an actual rape incident, according to senior Bill Williams, One in Four scheduler. The group will walk through steps for a man to take if a woman asks for help after being sexually assaulted and discuss ways in which men can help to end the violence before it occurs.

"We feel, and research agrees, that male-to-male peer sexual assault education is the most effective … method to inform men on this issue and eliminate rape myths," Schafer said.

Tuesday at 5 p.m. marks the start of Campout on the Commons, at which the entire group and any other particiticipants will spend the night demonstrating the impact of sexual assault on a community, Williams and Schafer said. A flip-chart will contain the statistics of the average number of women reported sexually assaulted, updated every 15 minutes throughout the night.

"We hope that the shockingly sad number displayed Wednesday morning will bring awareness of this issue to the JMU student body and bring about a call to action to decrease incidents of sexual assault and rape," said Schafer.

Junior Adam McNeil, co-coordinator of the campout, said, "A lot of guys don’t realize that they need to funnel down their anger. That’s actually more important than trying to find out who did it and beating the crap out of them."

To conclude the week, members from One in Four, R.E.A.C.H. Peer Educators, C.A.R.E., Student Government Association and the Panhellenic Council will present "Year-End Sexual Assault Open Forum" Wednesday in Taylor Hall, room 405 at 8:30 p.m. Schafer said these groups, along with other students and survivors, will discuss what role each plays in ending sexual violence and how to better its outreach and prevention.