Rowan University Greek Life and Clubs Take a Different Approach to Sexual Assault Awareness

Glassboro, NJ—On Monday, April 20, 2015, hundreds of Rowan University students honored Sexual Assault Awareness Month (SAAM) with a special event banding Greek Life and the Rowan University campus. The event, hosted by Pact5, a national campaign among five schools across America that aim to create awareness and prevent sexual assaults on college campuses, collaborated with six fraternities and two sororities along with three Rowan SGA chartered clubs to educate Rowan students about sexual assaults on college campuses.

“Sexual assaults and rapes exist on all college campuses. The solution is not to cover this tragic fact up but eliminate it through awareness and prevention education. Rowan University is proactive in addressing this problem,” said Ned Eckhardt, one of the founders of Pact5, “This event focused on fraternities and sororities joining the campus voices of prevention and awareness. The national Pact5 movement became the platform for this event and over 1,000 students made the Pact to prevent sexual assaults and rapes in colleges and everywhere.”

As sexual assault awareness month, April presents the perfect opportunity to educate and create awareness in the Rowan community about sexual assaults on college campuses. Phi Kappa Psi, Alpha Chi Rho, Fiji, Sigma Pi, Tau Delta Phi, Pi Kappa Alpha, Alpha Sigma Alpha, and Theta Phi Alpha joined the Intersectional Feminist Collective, Rowan University College Republicans, Rowan Healthy Campus Initiatives, and To Write Love on Her Arms in the Chamberlain Student Center Pit from 4:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.

“The best part, for me, was the interactive quality of the event. We didn’t just listen to someone for four hours; we actually had to learn about our topic so that we could teach the others,” said Eric Jacobson, a brother of Alpha Chi Rho, “That style, plus interacting with the other event tables, actually helped me retain the information.”

Each organization had a designated table showcasing different topics and facts about sexual assault. Tables featured “spin the wheel,” “learn a fact,” “save a freshman,” “corn hole,” interactive television screens and more. Students walked around the rows of tables learning and participating in various topics and engaging with one another.

At the entrance of the event, Pact5 encouraged on-lookers and participants to “sign the pact.” By signing the pact, students agree to “say something if they see something.” By 8:30 p.m., 610 Rowan University students signed pact.

“In September, Pact5 had made approximately 500 pacts throughout the five universities of the campaign,” explained Jessica Albano, the PRaction account manager of Pact5. “Most students didn’t know about Pact5 and had no idea about the prevalence of sexual assault on college campuses. Now, thanks to the Greeks and club organizations, we will end the year with more than 2000 pacts!”

The workshop also featured guest speaker Katya Palsi, an alumnae of Rowan University and sexual assault awareness activist from “Minding Your Mind.” Additionally, Pact5 documentaries made by Rowan students were playing on a screen during the event.

More About Pact5:

Pact5 is a humanitarian collaboration started by students and faculty in TV production classes of five universities : Rowan University (NJ), Califronia State University at Northridge, Western State Colorado University, Notherin Illinois University, and Framingham State University (MA). The campaign believes students are the ones who can make a difference in the minds of other students. A large movement of the campaign comes from documentaries produced by the students. Pact5 believes that short documentaries produced by students can create powerful stories that can change potentially tragic behavior patterns. Pact5 believes that students are the ones who can make a difference in the minds of other students.