Snapshots from the student protest for the VAWA grant, which would put $300,000 in AU’s pocket for sexual assault prevention education and tools. At the end of the day, about 40 protesters went home with little more than a pseudo-compromise from the Office of Campus Life.
Taken by Ashley Dejean.
Junior Melinda Fielder (left) starts a chant before asking the protestors to join her in a march to Gail Hanson’s office.
Students march around the quad before visiting Gail Hanson’s office.
Students crowd the Office of Campus Life to put pressure on VP of Campus Life Gail Hanson (left) to sign the VAWA grant.
After refusing to sign the grant application once again, senior Leigh Ellis (right) presents her with “Collaborative Action for a Safe Campus,” which outlines goals taken from the VAWA grant proposal.
Sophomore Nicole Wisler says she believes mandatory sexual assault education could have prevented her own sexual assault experience. She compares her story with the consequences of an account stop from a library fee: “Sacrificing the discomfort of a few students who might not complete [the mandatory education] in time versus the safety of 400 students seems ludicrous to me.”
Hanson responds to Wisler, saying “I know you know your equation doesn’t work” and that it’s an “emotional thing.”
Protesters make themselves comfortable in the Office of Campus Life while they wait for Hanson to sign the collaborative agreement. In the end, she edited it and signed the bottom fourth of the document, agreeing to meet with them and come up with a collaborative and comprehensive plan.
I love how you just ‘outed’ that girl as a sexual assault victim on the internet. I hope she consented.
Dear Carter,
Wisler was vocal about her experience, talking about it on a megaphone in the middle of the Quad. While some journalists would see this as enough to publish her name with her story, I know this is a delicate issue and
A friend of hers, Ethan Miller, who also writes for AWOL, made a video of the protest, which included (in more detail than we did here) her experience. You can see the video in AWOL’s blog post about the event (link at the bottom), The Eagle’s story about the event or Amanda Hess’ blog. After seeing that, I felt pretty comfortable with publishing this information. Upon seeing your comment, I contacted Wisler immediately to ensure she was comfortable with what was on this page, which she said she was.
Hope you’re having a good day,
Ashley Dejean