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Busy first week on campus

Socials, tabling events, orientations display what student groups have in store

Matthew Merkel, staff

The University of Manitoba was a busy place last week. On top of the return to in-person learning, there were multiple back to school celebrations across campus.

The Commerce Students’ Association (CSA) held events for The Commerce Week from Sept. 6 to 9.

CSA vice-president student life Avery Groeneveld was excited to see the annual week-long event back on campus. The CSA has a long history of putting on social events that Groeneveld said are meant to allow students to connect and have fun in a common area.

Partnering with UMSU, the CSA held a couple of events on the Duckworth Quad. On Sept. 8 and 9, the annual beverage gardens took place from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m., while the Commerce on the quad social was held on Friday from 7 p.m. to 1 a.m.

Groeneveld explained that when holding events like these, a common struggle is figuring out how to inform new students about events. She said the CSA initially expected to have difficulties getting the word out to new patrons, but that Commerce on the quad sold out before classes began, a first for the association.

“We just want to make sure we live up to the hype that our predecessors have built” Groeneveld said.

On top of their social programming, the CSA also held professional development and academic meetings. On Sept. 7, career development and co-op information sessions made up the morning schedule, while case competition and equity, diversity and inclusion workshops took place in the afternoon and early evening. Additionally, from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. on Sept. 7 and 8, student action groups and sponsors had booths set up in the Drake Centre.

Groeneveld highlighted more upcoming CSA social events students. The Halloween Shocker social will be held on Oct. 29, and the Commerce Carol social will take place Dec. 23. After the fast ticket sales for Commerce on the Quad, Groeneveld encouraged students wanting to attend CSA events to purchase tickets early.

Fourth year U of M student Taryn Ambrose was happy to see social events return to campus, and applauded the ability of these events to create a communal atmosphere. After attending the beverage gardens, Ambrose said he is looking forward to upcoming CSA events.

“I think I will try and go to as many as I can,” Ambrose said.

“They’re usually a lot of fun and usually done pretty well, so I think it’ll be a good time.”

Busy week for UMSU

UMSU president Jaron Rykiss was all over campus this past week taking part in events. Rykiss said he was elated to meet students at the U of M’s Welcome Day on Sept. 6. He also sat at the UMSU table during CSA events on the quad to talk to and meet with students.

Quad games, free breakfasts, barbecues and tabling events were some of the things students were taking part in during the first week of classes. Rykiss said most of the students he has spoken to are excited to be back, but that he can sense that there is a bit of nervousness and anxiety across the student body. He

/ staff Ebunoluwa Akinbo photo /

said that UMSU is doing their best to help ease the transition for new students and point them in the right direction.

Rykiss and the rest of the UMSU executive team were also busy preparing for this week’s Bison Bash. The lineup for the concert at Burton Cummings Theatre on Sept. 17 was unveiled on Saturday. The Happy Fits are headlining the show, while Rêve and Mauvey are openers.

Rykiss said that events like the ones put on this week are meant to help change the culture at the U of M, a university that Rykiss says does not have a vibrant student life. He explained that students value the opportunity to attend a university that is not just about classes, but also about socializing and making friends.

“They have an opportunity to build a community here and we want to make sure that they are able to do that,” said Rykiss.

“The best way to do that is by giving them places where they can make those connections.”

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Respect, Educate, Empower Survivors reaches for ‘red zone’ reduction

Campus sexual violence reporting tool aims to make reporting incidents easier

Alex Braun, staff

With the return to in-person activities comes a renewed need to face what some have referred to as an epidemic of sexual assault issues on university campuses.

The U of M is currently in what sexual assault advocacy groups have termed the “Red Zone” — the period between the start of the academic year and November. During this period, over half of all college sexual violence incidents take place.

This time period, marked by campus events, parties and an influx of new people is also when new students might be unfamiliar with the security, reporting and support resources available to them. Respect, Educate, Empower Survivors (REES), an online system for reporting sexual harassment, assault and misconduct, is looking to help. REES is a secure platform that partners with universities to build a tool used to record incidents and connect victims to resources and avenues of justice.

Here on the U of M campus, REES is partnered with UMSU. Partnership liaison Carter Dawson said that “the goal of REES is to provide a survivor-centred approach to reporting.”

Dawson explained that victims of misconduct and violence can visit the REES website, select their campus and create a record of what took place. From there, they can be connected to resources and information. He said that the platform is designed with privacy in mind, so survivors own their reports and REES cannot access or pass on any information until given express permission from the user.

Once the report is made, survivors have a few options regarding what they can do with it. Dawson said that the record can simply be used as a secure journal, but may also be passed along anonymously at any time to administration or campus resource providers — the Sexual Violence Resource Centre at the U of M — who will follow up on the report. At the U of M, users can also choose to send the report to the police.

“It can take some time to process what has happened, and it can also take time to know where you’re wanting to report or what you’re actually wanting to do with that report,” Dawson acknowledged.

REES will store records for as much time as survivors need to decide on a course of action.

Dawson added that if users choose to submit the report anonymously through REES, data from their records is anonymously aggregated and reported to the administration of institutions. Dawson said that this data helps inform strategies for preven-

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tion. He explained that knowing the times of day, areas and events where pockets of harm occur can help campus officials to increase security and create proactive policies to address sexual violence and misconduct.

If you or someone you know on campus has been a victim of sexual violence, the U of M Sexual Violence Resource Centre can be found at 537 UMSU University Centre, or by e-mail at svrc@umanitoba.ca. Reports can be filed through REES at reescommunity.com/campus.

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