For this year’s Sexual Assault Awareness Month, the university will be raising awareness surrounding the issue using social media platforms.

The university’s Campus Assault Response and Education (CARE) team is hosting online events for Sexual Assault Awareness Month. The CARE team plans to utilize their social media and virtual meetings to help spread awareness.

“Even though we are not physically on campus and conducting in-person events, we can still inform students about sexual assault statistics, guide them to helpful resources and reinforce with positive messages, especially during this time via digital platforms,” said Antoinette Alack, CARE team chair.

Chaise Gilbert, CARE team co-chair, explained how the team plans to reach students.

“We’re trying to plug events through our social media and website to put the word out there,” said Gilbert. 

For social media posts, the CARE team has two events planned: Fact Friday and Denim Day. Fact Friday is a day where the CARE team will post a fact relating to sexual assault. Denim Day, according to the CARE team’s event planner, is a day to show support to survivors of sexual assault and to educate about all forms of sexual violence.

Alack described what students can do to participate on Denim Day and when the event will be held on social media.

“We would like students to post images in their denim to support National Denim Day on April 29 and use the hashtag #SoutheasternCARE to keep the support chain growing,” said Alack. 

Not only is the CARE team using their social media spread the word but they are also hosting virtual meetings.

“We had a very successful virtual event with Josef Canaria from LaFASA on April 7 for the Student Engagement Leadership Virtual Luncheon,” commented Alack. “Approximately 60 students and staff attended the Zoom meeting, and he educated us on how to respond to disclosures. It seems that virtual meetings and social media will be the wave of the future for prevention efforts.”

Both Alack and Gilbert acknowledged the challenges facing the CARE team when transitioning online.

“We know the transition to online would be a big challenge to engage students thus we wanted to meet the students where they were and digitally reach them,” stated Alack. 

Students can follow the CARE team via the social media accounts of the Office of Student Advocacy and Accountability.

To learn more about the CARE team and upcoming events for Sexual Awareness month, visit southeastern.edu/care.