Vol. 105 Issue 74
@thepittnews
Pittnews.com
Thursday,November 20, 2014
#RapeCultureIs
Board Zerlina Maxwell appoints visits Pitt Allocations Chair Emily Ahlin Staff Writer
Zerlina Maxwell spoke to roughly 200 students in the Union last night about rape culture. Meghan Sunners | Staff Photographer
Nerine Sivagnanam Staff Writer Go with a buddy. Don’t drink too much, and you’ll be fine. You totally raped that test. To some, phrases like these may seem casual and normal, possibly even humorous at times, but, according to Zerlina Maxwell, a political analyst, commentator and writer, these phrases are part of what condones rape culture. On Nov. 19, Maxwell spoke at an event hosted by Slutciety and sponsored by the Political Science Department. In her presentation, titled “From Catcalling to Sexual Assault: How We Can All Work to End Gender-Based Violence,”
Maxwell discussed rape culture and what college students can do to combat it. More than 200 students attended the event in the William Pitt Union Ballroom. Maddie O’Connell, the vice president of Pitt’s first intersectional feminist publication, Slutciety, said Maxwell was the perfect speaker to represent the organization’s feminist goals. “Our goal is to create a space for students who are marginalized on the basis of their gender, religion, race, class or sexuality, among many other factors, to speak their voice in a scholarly feminist setting,” O’Connell said. One of Maxwell’s goals is to get people to teach men not to rape, rather than teaching
women ways not to be raped. Throughout her presentation, Maxwell, who is a rape survivor herself, continued to come back to the basis that women should not have to be guided to act in a certain way to prevent being raped. “Change the behavior of the person who is committing the crime, not the person who is victimized,” Maxwell said. Maxwell also discussed the prevalence of rape culture in the media and how it is overlooked, whether it be in music, advertisements or current events. Maxwell showed the audi-
Maxwell
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Nick Reslink will serve Pitt’s student body as the SGB Allocations Committee Chair for 2015. A nominating task force consisting of Board President Mike Nites, Board member Abby Zurschmit, Nasreen Harun, current allocations chair and executive vice president-elect, Board member and President-elect Graeme Meyer, as well as Allocations Vice Chair Robyn Weiner conducted the interview last night, according to a release. Reslink was the only applicant for the position. Reslink, a junior economics and business double major, will serve a year-and-a-half-long term beginning in January. Reslink will oversee the SGB Allocations Committee, whose 12 members he will help select. The Committee is responsible for aiding the Board in distributing the more than $2 million Student Activities Fund to roughly 400 University-recognized student groups around campus. Reslink and the members will be responsible for deliberating on weekly funding requests, holding office hours with students and assisting students with the allocations process and any funding questions. Nites, Zurschmit, Harun and Meyer will select the rest of the members of the Allocations
Allocations
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