Tuesday, April 23, 2013 |

 

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UTSAV GANDHI

SexualAssault Awareness Month @ ||T

Karla Talley
IIT WOMEN SERVICES INTERN

We take time to become more aware
about the important issues surrounding
sexual assault in the United States each April.
<‘Every two and a half minutes, somewhere in
America, someone is sexually assaulted,” and
unfortunately, the walls of a university do not
help to lower this number. As students, faculty,
and staff, we must educate ourselves on how
to prevent sexual assault acts towards others
and ourselves. Women’s Services and Campus
Life will be holding two main events to bring
forth awareness about sexual assault and sexual
violence.

The first event being held is Denim Day in
the USA. On Wednesday, April 24th, you can
actively show that as a woman or man, you are
standing up against sexual assault and sexual

||T Rock C

Dan Zweig
STAFF WRITER

The IIT Rock Climbing club took an
unorthodox trip to Southern Illinois to help a
nonprofit rock climbing company called Access
Fund establish a newly acquired rock climbing
location: Holy Boulders. Holy Boulders, first
revealed to us by the light of our headlamps,
is an accumulation of beautiful sandstone
boulders that offer some of the best bouldering
problems and rock in Illinois.

Seven IIT climbers drove the 6 hours
south through Champaign and Carbondale to
Pomona, IL, on Friday night the weekend of
April 12. Saturday morning after making eggs

violence, and are in support of those who have
been victims to these terrible crimes. Held
each April during Sexual Assault Awareness
Month, Denim Day recalls an Italian court
case that sparked international outrage when
judges did not convict a rapist because the
victim wore jeans.

The judge ruled that because the victim
was wearing tight jeans, she must have helped
her attacker remove them, thus implying
consent. Those in support of the victim
were outraged and Denim Day became a
way to speak out against sexual assault. For
more information on the event, please visit
denimdayusa.org. Whether your oflice usually
wears business attire or is casually dressed,
taking part in Denim Daywill make a statement
for all to see and hear!

The Office of Campus Life will have a
day of support from 10 am. to 4 pm. where

students, faculty, and staff can stop by and sign
the banner expressing why you are wearing
denim. After signing the banner, you will be
placed into our raffle to potentially win aDenim
Day button, t—shirt, or coffee mug!

Another event, The Clothesline Project,
which began in 1990, was a simple way for
women to voice their stories and concerns about
sexual assault. Simply put, women and men
decorate a shirt with their own story or a story
of a friend or loved one who has unfortunately
been victim to sexual violence. After the shirt
is decorated, it is hung on a clothesline for
survivors to be able to walk away from, and
for others to know they are not alone. <‘The
Clothesline Project honors women survivors
as well as victims of intimate violence. Any
woman who has experienced such violence,
at any time in her life, is encouraged to come
forward and design a shirt. Victim’s families and

friends are also invited to participate.” For more
information, please visit clotheslineproject.
org. Ioin Women’s Services and Campus Life
during the week of April 22 if you would like
to decorate a shirt for the clothesline. April 29
from 10a.m. to 4 p.m., the clothesline will be
hung in the Welcome Center for viewing and
there will be another opportunity to decorate
a shirt.

Education and prevention are the best
ways that we can combat sexual assault and
sexual violence. Women’s Services intends to
bring to light these events, and offer the IIT
community a chance to stand together against
the problem. Please come out to each of these
events and help us spread the word about
ending sexual assault! Contact Alex Garrett of
Women’s Services with any questions agarret2@
iit.edu.

imbing visits southern Illinois

and sausage around a campfire with maybe 12
others, about 30 additional people arrived to
help the Access Fund Conservation Team.

The Conservation Team organized the
volunteers into 5 teams: Camping area clean
up, trail building, two staging area maintenance
teams, and a climbing kiosk team. The IIT
group spread out and helped build trails, build
the kiosk, clear trees and leaves from around
climbing areas, move unwanted rocks, and build
a small footbridge.

At lunch, the IIT students regrouped for
sandwiches, and then collected their climbing
gear to take advantage of the new climbing area.
Two marvelous cracks had caught our attention,
and so we used our traditional climbing gear to
set two separate anchors, dropped ropes down,

and each enjoyed our turns climbing high on
the sandstone cliff line. We had the pleasure
of belaying for a climber from the Southern
Illinois University Carbondale Rock Climbing
Club who used traditional climbing equipment
to lead climb the crack that our climbers were
struggling on.

That evening the Access Fund Team
bought about 50 pizzas and we enjoyed the
company of about 50 climbers and volunteers
around an enormous campfire.

The Access Fund raffled off about 30 rock
climbing items, from gear to gym passes, and the
IIT students whipped out s’more ingredients for
a fun night of just talking and hanging out with

climbers from all over Illinois.
The next morning, the group decided to do

“In?

some of the more typical Holy Boulders climbs,
bouldering routes on much smaller rocks.

The climbs never got above nine feet and
the climbers were spotted by the other club
members, with crash pads to cushion their
falls if they ever did. We only did easy boulder
problems that were zero risk. We had a lot of
fun just enjoying the warm weather, climbing
the new routes, and meeting other philanthropic
climbers.

Overall, it was an amazing camping and
climbing weekend outdoors, and a first for
one of our students! Learn more about the
Holy Boulders at accessfund.org or IIT Rock
Climbing Club on our Facebook.

 

Photos by Dan Zweig