Student Senate decided Wednesday night to incorporate more online exhibits about sexual assault to reach out to regional campuses about sexual and domestic violence.
Geneva Murray, the director of Women’s Center, is looking into red zone programming, which is a period of six weeks that is believed to be the most dangerous time for campus sexual assault.
Murray gave an overview of the Women’s Center and events that it offers students and faculty at Ohio University. Murray began with discussing sexual and domestic violence prevention, a topic that she said was “hot” on campus last semester but should always be talked about by students. She commended student efforts to address the issue head-on.
“All of this requires all of us,” Murray said. “It is not just something that should reside in a single person’s job description.”
Murray also talked about the Women’s Center’s push to improve the lactation rooms on campus. No one was really keeping a list of where all of the available lactation rooms were on campus, Murray said.
The center is trying to provide more of these rooms. Guidelines are also being established for the rooms in order to ensure that each space is comfortable and suitable for breastfeeding.
“We’re trying to make things as consistent as possible,” Murray said.
The body also had a presentation from Student Trustees Austin McClain and Faith Voinovich that shared the highlights of last week’s Board of Trustees meetings.
McClain discussed the board unanimously passing the Senate’s proposed amendment. The amendment allows Student Senate to make constitutional changes without approval from the Board of Trustees.
“You get more autonomy and freedom with your constitution,” McClain said. “This is good news.”
McClain and Voinovich also presented on new academic programs, approved projects and first generation students. A new department of social work also was approved and will be formed.
“This is breaking off due to large enrollment projections for the department,” McClain said.
