On Monday, March 2, Clemson University’s Student Government (CUSG) passed resolution SR 05, which supports the creation of a Women’s and Gender Center at Clemson University. This center will be home to Interpersonal Violence Response Coordinators who will offer support and guidance to victims of interpersonal violence.
The creation of the Women’s and Gender Center was one of the goals of the #CMeToo movement, which aims to “bring awareness, validation and support to survivors of interpersonal violence at Clemson University,” according to the #CMeToo website. Members of this movement argue that currently at Clemson, the resources for survivors of interpersonal violence are lacking. In addition to meeting with members of the executive leadership team at Clemson, #CMeToo organized a Women’s March Against Violence on Nov. 15, 2019. The Tiger has previously written an article about the march.
The students who initiated the march also created a petition, one of the goals of the petition being the creation of a Women’s and Gender Center. The passing of resolution SR 05 thus serves as another step towards making sure Clemson University has adequate resources to support survivors of interpersonal violence.
Nina Cinca, Asst. News Editor of “The Tiger,” emailed with Rachel Clyburn who is a member of It’s On Us at Clemson. It’s On Us is a student organization that works to raise awareness, educate students on campus and offer support to survivors of sexual assault on campus. Here is what Rachel had to say.
Nina: What does the process look like for getting things done that you all have accomplished so far?
Rachel: So far we have been working closely with individual administrators who have been delegated certain responsibilities to accomplish things. One of the initiatives that has been progressed thus far, the posting of two new Interpersonal Violence Response Coordinator positions, was progressed through meetings with Dr. Poole in Student Affairs. The other, the restructuring of the President’s Commission on Women, was progressed by working with the Commission directly. We have a team of students working on these initiatives and we all work together to go to meetings, follow-up with administrators, etc.
Nina: Have there been any challenges along the way? If so, what were they and how did they affect you all?
Rachel: The biggest challenges so far have been accountability, transparency and communication on the part of administrators. These really have been our biggest frustrations up to this point, because we are more than willing to work with administrators but have stressed that communication and transparency are important moving forward and haven’t always seen those qualities prioritized.
Nina: Has the support increased/what does it look like for y’all now after the Women’s March against Violence in November?
Rachel: We’ve had so much support from across different populations on and off-campus. Many students have come to us and told us that they’re supportive of these efforts or asked to be involved, and we’ve also had a large number of faculty and staff express support. Additionally, we’ve received a lot of support from the local advocacy center and alumni who have contacted us and are interested in donating towards these efforts.
Nina: What else do you plan to accomplish in the future? (Are there any events to look out for?)
Rachel: For the rest of the semester, we are really focused on seeing the initiatives from our original petition through to fruition. Alden Parker and I will be presenting at the Women’s Leadership Conference this weekend on some of these efforts, and Sexual Assault Awareness Month is coming up and there will be a lot of great events going on throughout that month! Stay tuned to the Its On Us Instagram for updates on all the awareness events that will be happening. Also, there is a resolution calling for the undergraduate senate’s support of the creation of a women’s and gender center on campus that went into first read yesterday and will be voted on next Monday.
Nina: What else should I know (that I maybe forgot to touch on) or you would like to include?
Rachel: If anyone is looking to get involved in the movement please reach out to us, there are so many ways to get involved and help to better support for survivors on Clemson’s campus! Additionally, we want to stress that we are excited about the progress we’ve seen so far at the start of the hiring process for Interpersonal Violence Response Coordinators and want to thank everyone that attended the March or signed the petition and helped to make that happen!
The #CMeToo campaign has many upcoming events and steps planned towards the ultimate goal of making Clemson University a more supportive campus for survivors. For more information, visit the #CMeToo campaign website.
