WNU honored Sexual Assault Awareness Month (SAAM) through the #IASK campaign, a term coined by the National Sexual Violence Resource Center. As such, the club hosted numerous events including  the "green means go" consent day during which green flags were placed around campus,tabling and giving out #IASK themed items (April 1) , observing a day of silence (April 2), participating in the Clothesline Project hosted by Women's Services (April 4), sponsor...

Why Not Us held the Allegheny Title IX Conference in the Tippie Alumni Center on Saturday, April 7.

The conference started with speakers from the Audrie Pott Foundation, named after a fifteen-year-old girl who was sexually assaulted and committed suicide in 2012. Lawrence Pott, her father, Sheila Pott, her mother, and Lisa Pott, her step-mother, all spoke to different aspects of how assault and bullying can affect someone’s life .

While Lawrence Pott sp...

Why Not Us sponsored three self-defense classes for the Allegheny community. John Guthrie, part-time instructor of Dance and Movement Studies, taught the courses, which were offered on February 12, 19 and 25 in the Montgomery Gymnasium.

Guthrie teaches Tang Soo Do, a style of martial arts from the Korean Peninsula. In addition to being a professor at Allegheny, Guthrie is the president of Morco, a company based in Cochranton, Pennsylvania.

Guthrie said...

Title IX Coordinator Gillian Ford visited Allegheny Student Government during its meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 13 to give a presentation titled “What you need to know about Title IX.”

Ford discussed students’ options when they choose to report a case to the Title IX office. She said there are four options: speak with the Title IX office, or file a formal, informal or criminal complaint.

When students come to the Title IX office, Ford said she must decide if...

Why Not Us started Valentine’s Day off by hosting a Survivor Love Letter event in the Henderson Campus Center on Wednesday, Feb. 14.

This three day event is filled with information about Title IX and gives passersby the opportunity to write a letter to survivors of sexual assault on a postcard.

Mark Myers
Students sign pledges and write love letters during the Why Not Us Survivor Love Letter event in the Henderson Campus Center lobby Feb. 15, 2018.

“The...

Why Not Us and Allegheny Student Government partnered together to sponsor a pledge signing ceremony on Tuesday, Feb. 6 in the fight to end rape culture in an event held in the Henderson Campus Center lobby.

“This pledge is a personal commitment to help keep women and men safe from sexual assault,” the pledge read. “It is a promise to not be a bystander to the problem, but to be a part of the solution.”

Recognize, identify, intervene an

d create are four...

“As an organization it is our goal [to enact] preventative efforts to reduce the numbers of sexual assaults on campus,” Myers said.

The organization has been working with Title IX Coordinator and Executive Vice President Gilly Ford to draft its constitution and organize programming around campus for the mentioned preventative efforts, according to Myers.

Since October is Domestic Violence Awareness month, Why Not Us hopes to work both with Ford’s office...

On September 7th, 2017, Betsy DeVos announced plans to roll back federal guidance on Title IX. While her comments demonstrate a fundamental misunderstanding of the law and perpetuate myths that harm survivors, your rights remain intact. No matter what Betsy DeVos says, Title IX and the Clery Act are still the law of the land. Use these resources to stay informed. 

 Faith Ferber of Know Your IX, 2017. 

On September 7th, 2017, Bet...