Title IX office to host events for Sexual Assault Awareness Month

In observance of Sexual Assault Awareness Month, NSU’s Title IX Office will host events in April, like Palette of Hope (a painting session), Red Flag Green Flag (discussing red and green flags in relationships), Denim Day (wearing denim to stand against sexual violence), and baseball and softball games.

Laura Bennett, Title IX coordinator, said a new theme is chosen for SAAM each year.

“This year, the theme is Building Connected Communities, because it really does take a village to prevent sexual misconduct and to support our students,” Bennett said.

For Sam Giordano, Title IX case manager and sexual violence prevention educator, her favorite event is Discover with Dye: Unlocking the History of SAAM, which is a new event from previous years. At noon on April 1, in the Flight Deck Backyard, students will have the option to tie-dye T-shirts from the office of Title IX.

“We’re hoping that people will wear them at events, or any time, to show awareness and prevention,” Giordano said. “We do have a lot of promotional material that we made: stickers, buttons and all that fun stuff. Plus we have a lot of poster boards that we’re going to be putting up, so students can read and learn about Sexual Assault Awareness Month as well on that first day.”

Another event is Day of Action on April 2 at 10 a.m. in the University Center.

In collaboration with The NSU Center for Student Counseling Services and Well Being by Henderson Behavioral Health, students will be able to write Dear Survivor letters and make fidget toys.

“Either you can write a letter to yourself or to a survivor,” Giodarno said. “We’re going to be doing Take a Message, Leave a Message, so students can write messages. They can take one that might already be written by somebody else. They’re going to be empowering, powerful messages that students can use for themselves or give to others.”

From April 8-11, The Clothesline Project will allow students to write uplifting messages on t-shirts, which are then hung up on clotheslines.

“It’s pretty visible because people can actually come and make shirts that reflect whatever their personal experience is with sexual assault, or if they want to make something communicating a message about how they feel about it or whatever people are comfortable sharing,” Bennett said. “It’s just a way to kind of visualize that this is something that affects a lot of people.”

Other events include Consent is Key (a discussion on consent with free cupcakes and activities) on April 5 at noon in the UC, Red Flag Green Flag on April 8 at noon in the DeSantis Atrium, Denim Day on April 24 at noon in the UC, and Tampa Trauma Informed Care Symposium (an in-person only event featuring workshops on trauma-informed care) on April 27 at 10 a.m. at NSU’s Tampa campus.

When Giordan first began at NSU last July, her goal was to promote prevention and awareness as much as possible.

“We want to be able to educate students on these things that are really happening out in the world. We want to be able to bring that to campus to show them that there are people here that do support them and are here for them,” Giordano said.

Bennett encourages students to come to any of the events next month, and notes that raising awareness for sexual assault goes beyond SAAM.

“We really value helping students learn what they can do to keep their community safe,” Bennett said. “That’s really the goal of our office, is trying to empower students.”