On Wednesday, September 6 – 7, members of faculty, staff, and students of Indiana University-Purdue University Columbus will offer a round table presentation on the topic of sexual violence on campus and its prevention at the Indiana Coalition to End Sexual Assault (ICESA): Campus Consortium Conference at the Renaissance North Hotel in Carmel, Indiana.

PRESENTERS FROM IUPUC

Faculty
Julie Goodspeed-Chadwick, Ph.D., Professor of English, Affiliate Faculty in Women’s Studies, Director of the Office of Student Research, and Faculty Advisor of Feminism Club at IUPUC

Staff
Brandi Rund, Support Services Team Lead, University Information Technological Services, Indiana University and Secretary of Feminism Club at Indiana University-Purdue University Columbus

Students

1)    Clayton Ham, President of Spectrum (formerly the Gay Straight Alliance) at IUPUC and Vice President of Feminism Club at IUPUC and English Major and Women’s Studies Minor

2)    Emily Pedigo, Treasurer and Immediate Past President of Feminism Club at IUPUC and English and Sociology Double Major and Women’s Studies Minor

3)    Courtney Watkins, President of Feminism Club at IUPUC and Sociology Major and Literature and Women’s Studies Minors

Presentation Title
Engaging the Campus Community in Sexual Violence Awareness and Prevention on a Commuter Campus via Student, Staff, and Faculty Activists: Ideas for Programming from Feminism Club at Indiana University-Purdue University Columbus (IUPUC)

Presentation Description and Learning Objectives
One of the challenges of sexual violence prevention on a commuter campus is engagement: everyone is busy with schoolwork, jobs, and families, to name a few priorities. In addition, for Feminism Club at IUPUC, activism that focuses on sexual assault awareness and prevention is a priority. To that end, Feminism Club at IUPUC, comprised of students and assisted by staff and faculty, has become one of the most visible entities on campus, in part because of its dedication to serving students, staff, faculty, and the larger community outside of IUPUC and agitation for participation in prevention efforts. This roundtable/panel discussion will feature student, staff, and faculty voices on successful programming efforts in addressing sexual violence on a commuter campus with limited funds and will pivot on the following four learning objectives:

1.   To explain the importance of a Take Back the Night event during Sexual Assault Awareness Month as both an event that is symbolic to campus (including and especially a commuter campus) and one that brings people together from all walks of life and educates them about sexual assault and domestic violence through a partnership with students, staff, faculty, and community members/leaders—the logistics of hosting such an event will be presented, too; and

2.   To explain the importance of Crotch Watch, an event created at IUPUC that focuses on education and intersectionality, particularly in the respect to health care and safety, such as education about consent and the opportunities to learn about sex education and receive HIV testing—the logistics of organizing this event, which was free to students and the public, will be presented; and

3.   To explain the importance of Denim Day and how we achieved successful participation and partnerships
on and off campus, including with a mayoral proclamation facilitated by Turning Point Domestic Violence Services on our university campus; and

4.   To discuss what the audience would like to know more about in terms of the work of a student-led organization on a commuter campus that has strong ties to its communities--in order for the audience to generate their own ideas about campus sexual violence prevention and education.

Presentation Format
Roundtable/panel

Professional Bios

Julie Goodspeed-Chadwick is Professor of English, Affiliate Faculty in Women’s Studies, and the Director of the Office of Student Research at IUPUC. Her research and teaching interests pivot on literature by women and women’s studies concerns, including trauma studies and identity politics, from feminist perspectives. She is the author of a women’s studies and literature book (Modernist Women Writers and War: Trauma and the Female Body in Djuna Barnes, H.D., and Gertrude Stein) and more than 30 peer-reviewed articles and book chapters about literature and women’s studies from feminist perspectives. She is the faculty advisor of Feminism Club at IUPUC. Because of her feminist work in research, teaching, and service, she won the 2014 Inspirational Woman IUPUI Leadership award and the 2017 IUPUI Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching.

Clayton Ham is a junior at IUPUC. He is studying English with a concentration in Creative Writing and is minoring in Women’s Studies. Clayton is the President of the LGBTQ student organization Spectrum and the Vice President of Feminism Club at IUPUC. In February 2017, Clayton spearheaded an event called Crotch Watch, which focused on the awareness of consent, provided free sex education sessions, and free HIV testing for the IUPUC campus. He also was the chairperson of the 2017 Drag Show at IUPUC, which won a campus-wide leadership award. Clayton constantly continues to raise awareness surrounding the LBGTQ community on the IUPUC campus in numerous forms of activism.

Emily Pedigo is studying English with a concentration in Literature and Sociology and a Minor in Women’s Studies at IUPUC. Emily was the 2016 Outstanding Sociology Student of the Year at IUPUC. She has also been awarded two Office of Student Research grants. Emily presented at the Indiana Undergraduate Research Conference in 2016, and she was a semi-finalist for Best Presentation in the Indiana Undergraduate Research campus-wide project competition. Besides academic pursuits, Emily also has held different officer positions in the Feminism Club at IUPUC. She has been Secretary, Vice President, and President. In the 2017-2018 school year, Emily will be Treasurer, effectively holding every leadership position in Feminism Club at some point in her tenure at IUPUC. Her biggest leadership role is being a mother to her baby girl. She also works full-time.

Brandi Rund works in UITS at IUPUC, where she earned the Employee of the Month award for June 2014. In 2017, she won the Outstanding Woman Leader Award, “Honoring Trailblazing Women in Labor and Business,” from IUPUI. Rund received her AAS from Ivy Tech in Computer Information Systems in May 2016, and faculty selected her as the 2016 Outstanding Graduate for the CIS Program. Currently, she is a junior, working toward her B.A. in General Studies with a minor in Women’s Studies at IUPUC. Rund appreciates learning concerning Women’s Studies and loves to encourage everyone on campus to join Feminism Club. Recently, she scheduled two different academic sessions dedicated to empowering women in the workplace for IUPUC. Rund also spearheaded Data Privacy Day (and collaborated with Feminism Club); her work helped IUPUC receive the national title of Data Privacy Champion. She is passionate about feminist programming at IUPUC and works hard to support and empower women to be their best.  It is her goal to find ways to transform campus culture to make everyone feel welcome and valued at IUPUC. 

Courtney Watkins is a senior at IUPUC, majoring in Sociology and minoring in Women's Studies and Literature. She is the President of Feminism Club at IUPUC and the Vice President of Spectrum at IUPUC. Courtney marched for women's rights in the Women's March in Washington, D.C. and had dedicated her time to improving the lives of women and other underrepresented people in Columbus, Indiana and its surrounding communities. She played a leadership role in the following events: Take Back the Night, which raises awareness of sexual assault; Crotch Watch, which was a three-part event that provided consent education, sex education, and HIV testing; Feminism Club Women’s History Month Celebration; and The Clothesline Project, which was a visual display that represented victims of domestic violence. In 2017, she was a finalist for the Outstanding Student Leader of an Organization Award and was integral in the programming for the event that won Feminism Club the Best Example of Teamwork by a Student Organization Award.