Marquette Greek Life denounced sexual assault Wednesday and today by encouraging students to sign the It’s On Us Pledge in the Alumni Memorial Union.
April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month and Greek Life members organized a photo shoot and pledge table for students to learn about consent and sexual violence prevention.
Gilberto Vaquero, a senior in the College of Communication and member of Kappa Sigma, played an important role in bringing sexual assault awareness to Marquette’s student body. Last December, Vaquero along with other Kappa Sigma fraternity members sponsored a sexual assault awareness event which sparked the interest of other Greek chapters on campus.
“It is so important that we bring awareness to this issue because nationwide, 86 percent of sexual assault victims on college campuses don’t report it,” Vaquero said.
It’s On Us reported that one in every five women and one in every sixteen men are sexually assaulted in college. Many of these victims never report their assault out of fear and embarrassment which can make the victims feel trapped and alone.
Once students sign the pledge, there is an opportunity to donate to the Sexual Assault Treatment Center at the Aurora Sinai Medical Center in Milwaukee which helps Marquette students and community members cope with their experiences.
“We have over $25 in donations since we opened our booth so far and over 20 people have signed the pledge, both Greek and non-Greek members,” Vaquero said.
Along with sponsoring the It’s On Us campaign, Greek Life promotes the Start by Believing campaign which was created to raise awareness about ending violence against women, specifically rape and sexual abuse.
Hannah Badeau, a freshman in the College of Arts & Sciences, said sexual assault is such a common sense issue that students should take notice of the message of the campaign.
“The people who react to campaigns like It’s On Us are already invested in its mission, but we need to get everyone on the same page about this issue,” Badeau said. “It’s ridiculous that sexual assault is such a big problem because it is clearly wrong and students need to learn to respect each other.”
The Marquette University Sexual Violence Prevention and Education group also participated in the pledge and photo shoot event with the help of Greek Life by providing brochures and information about sexual assault to students as they signed the pledge.
Erin Loftus, a freshman in the College of Communication, said she signed the pledge because she believes sexual assault is an ongoing issue across universities nationwide that people need to pay attention to.
“I’m glad the It’s On Us Campaign is being brought to Marquette because I don’t think people always know that issues like this happen, and this teaches kids what to do if they ever witness it,” Loftus said. “I think Marquette students hold themselves to a higher moral code and we can be the change to stop things like this from happening on campuses everywhere.”
