Attendees participate in the Glow Run in 2014 to raise awareness among Fort Lewis College students about sexual consent and bystander intervention.
Attendees participate in the Glow Run in 2014 to raise awareness among Fort Lewis College students about sexual consent and bystander intervention.Durango Herald file

The first several weeks of college are what is known nationally as the “red zone,” the time when sexual assault rates are highest on campus. At FLC, it is a critical time for teaching students about sexual consent and bystander intervention.

Students who learn sexual consent concepts are less likely to assault others. These concepts include the revocability of sexual consent, negation of consent by intoxication and how to know when there are clear signs that sexual consent is present from a partner. Students learn that when they are intoxicated, they are less adept at reading social cues, signs that the other person is not consenting.

Wieser
Wieser

At the Glow Run and elsewhere on campus, students also learn to be active bystanders. They learn to act overtly or less obviously when another student is in danger of perpetrating violent or risky behavior, to derail the dangerous act. They learn to overcome the “bystander effect,” which causes people to hesitate to intervene if others are not intervening already.

Through these and multiple other efforts, FLC staff, faculty and students promote a campus culture of consent, where students respect and support one another, as opposed to a rape culture, where students are stigmatized for reporting rather than for perpetrating violence.

This week, the U.S. Department of Education announced its intention to roll back much of the sexual assault prevention and response guidance that has been provided to colleges and universities by the federal government. The Glow Run will continue, however. The students will hear an inspiring speaker with vital information. They will light up the night as they run and dance the night away on the mesa. They will do all of this knowing that our campus is a place that teaches them to value each other actively and equally, and will continue to do so.

FLC’s victim resources, a reporting form, and sexual misconduct policies and procedures are available online at www.fortlewis.edu/CARE.

Molly Wieser is Title IX coordinator at Fort Lewis College. Reach her at [email protected].

If you go

The fourth annual Fort Lewis College Light Up the Night Glow Run to prevent sexual violence will take place Sept. 15 at the Amphitheater. Registration will be at 7 p.m. and the run (5K Fun Run, 1K walk) will start at 8 p.m. The cost is $10 for community members and is free for FLC students with ID. The featured speaker this year is Augustin Caraza, FLC Class of 2017. Right after the run, at 9 p.m., will be the Glow party with a DJ, sponsored by FLC Student Union Productions; it is free for students. Proceeds from the run will benefit the FLC Wellness Peer Advisory Council and Sexual Assault Services Organization.