To the Editor:
Last Wednesday, Feb. 25, Hofstra University launched the “It’s On Us” campaign on its campus. Since then, there has been some backlash about the specifics of the launch and the intentions of the campaign itself, including a recently published op-ed titled, “It’s On Us fails to discuss sexual assault.”
The It’s On Us campaign is not a Hofstra-specific initiative. It is a branded campaign created by the White House Task Force to Protect Students from Sexual Assault. It is available to universities around the country, encouraging schools’ students, faculty and staff to communicate and learn how to deal with and move toward putting an end to sexual assault.
Because it is a branded campaign, Hofstra was required and expected to include certain aspects of the campaign into the launch, such as the It’s On Us logo featured on all of the publicity and merchandise. Although the t-shirts (there were no hoodies) were not “needed,” they and the freeze were simply a part of a marketing strategy implemented by a programming committee made up of students and staff to draw in the biggest crowd possible to the launch.
In order for any event to be successful, marketing must be employed. On a college campus, free apparel is an effective, incentive-based marketing strategy used to draw students to events. The t-shirts were not meant to be indicative of the changes we hope to make – just a visual representation of support. They were not even given away “for free,” so-to-speak. In order to obtain a t-shirt, students were asked to take the It’s On Us pledge.
At the launch, approximately 1,500 students took the pledge, which means they agreed “to recognize that non-consensual sex is sexual assault, to identify situations in which sexual assault may occur, to intervene in situations where consent has not or cannot be given and to create an environment in which sexual assault is unacceptable and survivors are supported.”
There has also been criticism about the language used throughout the launch. Because the campaign is a national, modular consumer brand, the students and staff of the Hofstra It’s on Us committee referred to the published It’s On Us Toolkit to create the script for the video. The words “sexual assault” were used instead of the word “rape,” specifically because sexual assault is an all-inclusive term (including rape).
According to the Department of Justice, sexual assault is “any type of sexual contact or behavior that occurs without the explicit consent of the recipient. Falling under the definition of sexual assault are sexual activities, such as forced intercourse, forcible sodomy, child molestation, incest, fondling and attempted rape.” It was said that the word “rape” was avoided altogether. However, throughout the course of the launch event, multiple speakers used this word specifically.
The truth is that we can discuss and disagree on the pros and cons of events, programs and policies until we run out of words. We can publish article after article, proving points about this and that and presenting our views. But the survivors, the suffering… the people who need our help, are what really matter.
The students, faculty and staff of Hofstra University all want the same thing – to effectively, and hopefully one day permanently, put an end to sexual assault of all kinds, by whatever means necessary. Together, we can make a difference.
Jackie Bakewell
It’s On Us programming committee ‘15
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