Student Safety & Healing

 

MSU hasn't fervently endeavored to educate students, faculty, staff, and administrators about rape culture, consent, misogyny, sexism, and hyper-masculinity. At its core, MSU is an institution of higher learning. Learning about sexual abuse, trauma and its effects, and humanizing ways to respect one another is a priority not yet attended to with the time and resources necessary. While we absolutely must hold perpetrators responsible for their actions, both the victims and victimizers need education around power, patriarchy, trauma, hyper-masculinity, consent, and safety. I recently saw a tweet in which a young woman recognized that she didn’t know she was a victim of sexual violence until years after the incident. We all need these lessons. 
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I would proactively, assertively work with university leadership to educate all Spartans. MSU is an educative institution. Educate. Talk openly. Discuss passionately. Teach consent. Engage in educative exchanges around conflict, inclusion, safety, and trauma for EVERYONE on campus. Most importantly, I would push to secure resources for healing that MSU could provide for victims and their families.
 
Finally, MSU’s Title IX offices need to ardently protect those who are susceptible to toxic masculinity, abuses of power, and who need protocols in place when they are violated.