The Tripod

On Thursday, Sept. 25, four recent graduates from colleges across the country came to Trinity to educate students about rape prevention. Every year, after an intense interview process, four male graduates are chosen and trained as peer-educators to travel the nation (and a little of Canada) in a R.V., presenting a research-based workshop entitled "How to Help a Sexual Assault Survivor: What Men Can Do." This year, the workshop was run by Frank Higginbotham, Rob Powell, Carter Shotwell, and Chad Merica.

"Dealing with this issue all the time can be tough, but if we were asked today, knowing what the experience would be like, we would say yes, sign us up," said Merica.

The workshop is part of a larger organization, "One In Four," dedicated to rape prevention programming through the application of theory and research. It is distinct from many other rape prevention workshops because it is run by men and, until last year, was completely geared toward men.

"So often these sort of programs treat men as potential rapists," said Higginbotham. "It's an adjustment for them to see that's not why we're here."

Last year, "One In Four" added a women's program to the tour in order to educate woman on how to help each other cope with sexual assault and how to profile a potential rapist.

"Hopefully, once we leave, between the women who saw 'The Women's Program' and the men who saw 'The Men's Program,' there will be new lines of communication on campus," said Merica.

In an article published in the January 2000 issue of the Journal of American College Health found that "The Men's Program" significantly decreases both men's belief in rape myths and the likelihood that a man will commit rape for an entire seven-month academic year.

Ben Hayes '10, who attended "The Men's Program," said, "The most interesting part of the talk was the video. It was a story of a male police officer sexually assaulted by two male criminals and not the typical image of a young female being assaulted by an older male that usually comes to mind when someone mentions the word 'rape.'"

The four peer-educators presented a one-hour workshop comprised of the screening of a video - regarding male-on-male rape for "The Men's Program" and the profile of a male rapist for the women - followed by an informative lecture.

"I believe men and women are equal, and I believe equality and rape cannot coexist. That's why it's important for me to be working in rape prevention, because rape prevention is equality promotion," said Powell.

All of the peer-educators were either involved in a chapter of "One In Four" at their colleges or had attended and been inspired by the workshop. In any case, each ended up in the R.V. for different reasons.

"It was really hard for me to wrap my head around the idea that something as horrible as rape or attempted rape had happened to a quarter of my friends," said Shotwell, who was a Neuroscience major at William and Mary College. "My consciousness really came alive after I saw the 'One In Four' presentation. I saw how men and women are treated differently in our society. I thought working for 'One in Four' would be a great starting point for me to get involved with gender equality. It was one of the best decisions of my college career."

Merica, who was also inspired after seeing a "One In Four" presentation at his own college, the University of Virginia, where he was a Psychology major, explained that he came to the issue of gender equality and rape after a close friend of his was assaulted in high school. "This is something I care about. This is something I want to work with. After I saw the presentation at my own school, I knew it was something I wanted to be a part of," said Merica.

Higginbotham, an Exercise Science major from University of North Carolina at Wilmington, was required as an athlete and captain of both the cross-country and track teams to attend the workshop in his senior year. His freshman year RA, who had been involved in the tour, recommended he apply.

"I think a large part of the problem is the language of our culture. Now, it's easier for me to tell my friends that their kind of behavior is not okay, but I do think it's easier to lead by example," said Higginbotham.

On the other hand, Powell majored in Community and Women's Studies at Bard College and had already worked for a sexual assault center as an educator and advocate for male victims of sexual assault. He explained that he developed a deep concern for rape issues and wanted to continue to work with rape prevention after graduation,

"We should have equality. Fear is a very powerful oppressor. That fear creates an unequal atmosphere, and we don't want that in our educational atmosphere, nation, our world," said Powell.

Although the four graduates came from different backgrounds and were motivated to apply to be part of the "One In Four" R.V. team by different things, they have managed to coexist in an R.V for the past two months and will continue to do so until May of 2009.

"We're just four very different guys, making it work," said Higginbotham. "I just hope gas doesn't increase any more and put us out of the job."

Article Tools