IFC hosts sexual assault prevention


The Interfraternity Council is holding its first-ever WE CARE, USC Greeks Stand Against Sexual Violence program this week in recognition of Sexual Assault Awareness Month.

The three-day initiative encourages students to take the pledge against sexual assault and to raise money for the Santa Monica Rape Treatment Center.

“We wanted the initiative to be by the leaders of our Greek community, but we wanted it to be for all of USC,” said Eric Miller, president of Sigma Chi. “Every student deserves to feel safe on this campus. That was our main motive for initiating this week.”

IFC began the initiative at Tommy Trojan, where Greeks distributed red wristbands to those who took the pledge.

“It’s been really great to see a lot of people on campus with the wristbands on,” Alex Budde, president of Phi Delta Theta, said. “The idea is that you see people on The Row on a Thursday or Friday night with these red wristbands on, and it’s a reminder that this is an issue that we want to do what we can to stop.”

The initiative continued with a screening of The Hunting Ground, a documentary about rape on college campuses, followed by a discussion with Liz Lee, a clinical social worker at the Center for Women and Men, student community leaders and representatives from DPS. On Thursday, IFC raised money for the rape treatment center with a raffle and donut sale.

“The Santa Monica Rape Treatment Center is pretty much the only non-USC resource for greater Los Angeles, and funding is obviously something that they would really benefit from,” Miller said. “Raising awareness is obviously great and really important, but raising money is always a great thing for the victims who are seeking help there.”

Miller said that he and other fraternity presidents came up with the idea for WE CARE. at an IFC retreat, where they discussed issues they are passionate about. Together they created a task force to spearhead the event.

“It’s really cool that this was started by a few presidents who stepped up and wanted to get involved in the issue [of sexual assault],” said IFC President Jake Simon. “We recognize it as an issue on our campus, and we as fraternity leaders have the ability to really make a difference.”

Working closely with the Center for Women and Men and RISE Student Alliance, the fraternity members planned how best to involve the campus in their dialogue about sexual assault.

“We’re tackling this issue for the first time ourselves, so we really wanted to reach out to the people who know their stuff,” Miller said. “It’s a Greek-initiated project, but we wanted to bring to the surface all that USC has to offer.”

The event’s Facebook page has more than 450 RSVPs and hundreds of students took the pledge against sexual assault this week. Both Greek and non-Greek community members took notice of WE CARE. and became involved in the week’s events.

“I’m really happy that people have received it so well,” Miller said. “One of my favorite conversations was with a woman who walked up to me and said, ‘Is this one of those fraternity things that you’re required to do?’ and I took a lot of pride in saying ‘No, this is something we initiated ourselves. We’re really passionate about changing the culture on campus and making sure that USC is safe for everyone.’ It’s something for everyone to really rally behind.”

Because of the week’s success, IFC plans to hold WE CARE. events next April, too, Budde said.

“We have had so many people come by the table to sign the pledge and donate to the Santa Monica Rape Treatment Center in just three days, and the documentary screening panel started a great discussion,” said Peter Roberson, a freshman majoring in chemical engineering. “This is a great start into introducing this issue to a large portion of the student body.”