Campus to hold sessions to help students combat sexual harassment

The Women’s Resource Center will host Brett Sokolow for a day-long workshop focusing on sexual harassment issues, compliance laws and a student focused bystander intervention course Oct. 26.

The program will be held in Dogwood conference room and is going to be conducted by Brett Sokolow, the founder, president and managing partner of the National Center for Higher Education Risk Management.

“(Sokolow) is going to be working with different staff on campus from different departments,” said Jennifer Graham, the Women’s Resource Center coordinator. “He’ll be helping us make sure that we have all of our campus violence prevention policy in order; that it’s all really good, strong policy. If we have gaps in anything, (Sokolow will be) helping us make sure we fill those in.”

NCHERM is a not-for-profit law and consulting firm which educates higher education institutions about vital issues such as sexual misconduct, campus safety and emergency management.

The NCHERM program was created by Sokolow in order to change how colleges and universities address sexual misconduct.

“Well, if colleges fail to comply with federal law, they risk losing substantial Title IV funding from the government. That’s one reason (why NCHERM was founded),” Sokolow said. “Another is that many of these laws are designed to protect members of campus communities, and we need that protection. Finally, because some colleges have created environments where gender discrimination can flourish or fail to end such environments when they exist, the law needs to provide recourse for victims to seek redress.”

A session called “Clery Act compliance-Is Your Campus Reporting Crime Accurately” will be held at 2 p.m. and another session, “Sexual Assault Response-Training for RAs and Other Key Personnel,” will be held at 3:30 p.m. and will be open for groups who interact with students on a day to day basis and may be first responders to assault cases.

The session will teach responders the correct way to report offenses and how to properly counsel sexual assault victims.

Junior economics major Eleanor Clifton, a community advisor in Foundation Hall, is attending Sokolow’s workshop. Although Clifton has not confronted any sexual assault problems, she sees the value of being up-to-date.

“I think it’s important to know how to respond (to students),” Clifton said, “especially if you’re one of the first people that has contact with them or learns about it; you greatly influence how they view (the offense) and how they view themselves and what they’re going to decide what to do. So it’s an urgent matter you need to know what to do, what their options are. Just being able to help them, being there for them.”

The final meeting Sokolow leads, “What If the Plane Blew Up,” is created specifically for students and focuses on bystander intervention.

“We are all stakeholders in the safety of our own community,” Sokolows said. “This program imparts real skills for all of us to do something more to protect our friends, teammates, sisters and brothers. Students will enjoy the stories, interaction and empowerment that ‘What if the Plane Blew Up’ will include.”

“We just got ranked one of the top 50 safest schools in the nation,” Graham said. “(Sokolow will be) working with us to make sure we stay there.”

To reserve a seat and meals for the workshop, departments should contact Jennifer Graham in the Women’s Resource Center. Students interested in “What If the Plane Blew Up” do not need to make reservations.

Sokolow leaves this advice for anyone who experiences sexual assault.

“Don’t put up with it,” Sokolow said. “Report it to responsible authorities as soon as it occurs, and insist on an appropriate response. It’s not your fault.”

Posted by Emily McCurley on Oct 22 2010. Filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.