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THE MARLIN CHRONICLE THURSDAY 4.09.15 || MARLINCHRONICLE.VWC.EDU ||
The female perspective The series of sexual assault forums continued when Kerry Albright Fankhauser visited VWC’s campus to discuss the issue with women that attend Virginia Wesleyan College
VIRGINIA WESLEYAN COLLEGE
Academic conference hosted at VWC ‘Works in Progress: A Regional Interdiscplinary Conference of Feminist Scholarship’, the first-ever academic conference hosted at VWC, was held last month BY JAMIE CRAWLEY jjcrawley@vwc.edu
Kayla Skeete | Marlin Chronicle
Kerry Albright Fankhauser responds to students during the sexual assualt awareness discussion in the Boyd on March 30. BY SARAH ANTOZZI scantozzi@vwc.edu
“If you know someone who has been a victim of sexual assault, please stand up,” said Kerry Albright Fankhauser, an asssociate dean and a deputy Title IX coordinator at the University of Richmond. Fankhauser addressed an audience composed almost entirely of female VWC students in Boyd Dining Hall on the evening of March 30. According to McCarren Caputa, associate dean of students for residence life and one of VWC’s Deputy Title IX directors, the audience numbered more than 175. About three-fourths of those in attendance rose to their feet. The response illustrated the relevance of Fankhauser’s presentation, aimed primarily at female students, on sexual assault. The gathering was the latest installment of the college’s continuing effort to educate students about Title IX and sexual assault. Barry Olson, vice provost for business administration at North Carolina State University, gave a speech on Feb. 19 at a similar VWC forum on sexual assault, geared toward male students. According to a campus-wide email from VWC President William Greer, research has shown programs on sexual assault are more effective using a genderspecific approach. Fankhauser’s presentation was meant to give students tools to recognize, deal with and ideally prevent sexual assault. In her position at the University of Richmond, Fankhauser handles sexual assault cases on a weekly basis. These may include such offenses as stalking, relationship violence, harassment or rape. “A lot of these cases come down to consent,” she said. To be consensual, a sex act must be mutually, unambiguously agreed upon by those involved, which is impossible if force is involved or if a person is incapacitated. In fact, alcohol is “the number-one tool” used by the 4 to 6 percent of college men who commit 95 percent of sexual assaults on college campuses, she said. Caputa said the next day that “hookup culture” can also affect consent. “They’re not having conversations about anything. They don’t know each other’s last names. They don’t know each other’s major. So how can they have a conversation that starts with ‘Would you like to have sex?’” Caputa said. Caputa said that helping students learn what healthy relationships look like is key. Often, according to Fankhauser, behaviors in abusive relationships mirror those in healthy ones. An outsider can have difficulty gauging what is really going on.
Virginia Wesleyan College hosted its first regional academic conference on March 28, featuring scholars from Christopher Newport University, the College of William and Mary, Old Dominion University and Hampton University, among others. Appropriately named “Works in Progress,” the goal of the conference was to further strengthen knowledge in fields related to women’s and gender studies, addressing topics such as feminism, gender issues and rape culture. Usually sponsored by ODU, the event was hosted by Virginia Wesleyan College this year Sharon Payne, professor of social work and director of the Women’s Resource Center, was one of the driving forces behind this event. Of course any inaugural event has its pressures. “A lot of pressure comes with this because ODU has done a good job,” Payne said. “Their women’s studies program really helped us get started in our women’s and gender studies program and our women’s center. They’re sort of like our mothers, if you will.” Dr. Taryn Myers, assistant professor of psychology, was also a key contributor in organizing the event. “What we did was organize the papers we got into panels based on theme,” Myers said. The conference included many panels that covered a variety of themes ranging from bisexuality in comics to army nurses and popular culture The goal of the conference was to provide a place where people could further educate themselves on women’s and gender issues, to converse with fellow interested scholars and provide an outlet for people to share this research with a wider audience.
SEE WORKS IN PROGRESS Pg. 2
Model UN wins big, again BY COURTNEY HERRICK clherrick@vwc.edu
Kayla Skeete | Marlin Chronicle
Kerry Albright Fankhauser during her presentation to a female-dominanted audience in Boyd Dining Hall.
Fankhauser gave three “reminders” of what to do if, as a bystander, you notice something that could be dangerous, such as an intoxicated person being led away from a party. First, take a second look. Then, “check in”: talk to one or more of the people involved to better discern what is happening. Third, keep in mind the question, “What if it were someone I loved?” “My hope,” Fankhauser said, “is that everyone will just think twice as they move through their daily life on campus. First just notice things, and then get involved.” With participation from the audience, she identified several obstacles that keep bystanders from intervening, and also identified multiple effective ways for a bystander to
SEE SEXUAL ASSAULT Pg. 2
While March was coming to a close, VWC’s model United Nations group attended a conference in New York City that lasted a total of five days. “Model UN is a large simulation of the workings of the United Nations,” said Aubrey Westfall, assistant professor of political science. “Each school or group represents a country in several committees of the United Nations. Over the course of one week, delegates attend multiple committee sessions with the goal of drafting resolutions for a vote.” During those five days, the group represented the Islamic Republic of Iran in 10 committees. Two students represented the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg in a Security Council Simulation. Representing Iran did not seem to be too daunting for junior Katie Stefano. “In high school, I represented the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) in a women’s issue committee. While being Iran on the Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference committee had a very similar feel to it, representing Iran was easier. It was easier for many reasons. Chief among them, I was far better
SEE MODEL UN Pg. 7