By Sydney Shadeck, Contributing Writer

9/26/2017

Behrend Students Against Violence Everywhere (better known as Behrend S.A.V.E.) is a relatively new club on campus aiming to educate the student population on sexual assault and domestic violence in the Penn State community and beyond. Its members focus on finding ways to get the rest of the student body more involved in putting an end to violence, starting locally and hoping to extend globally.

The club’s founder and advisor, personal counselor here on campus Lee Shadeck, stresses the importance of the club’s ability to create a shift of philosophy, leading to changes in the community. For example, at one point in time, the public accepted both drunk driving and not wearing seat belts. With enough activism and individuals coming together to raise a general awareness, these things became widely known as wrong. The whole point of S.A.V.E. is to bring a greater awareness of healthy relationships, of what leads to abuse, of what sexual assault is, and how to get the appropriate help. All of this will lead to a change of the culture on our campus, which will hopefully ripple outward.

October is coming right up. This month is not only devoted to raising awareness for breast cancer, but also for domestic violence. Behrend S.A.V.E. will be highly active during this month with an array of events to attend so that you can better understand prevention and take action. You can check on OrgSync and Facebook to see just what and when these events and activities will be throughout the month if you are interested in becoming a part of the movement.

You may not think that this subject is important in your life. You may assume that only the people who are or who are close to a victim need to be involved. Remember that this could be anyone. In any new relationship, you could be the one abused. On any given night out, you could be the one hurt. Your best friend could be. Your teammate could be. Your sibling could be. Anyone could be.

Prevention does more than any form of reparation.

Why wait for that night to come? Put an end to violence before it starts.