Rape Aggression Defense course photo. Courtesy of The Western Carolina University Police Department
Co-written and edited with Brannon Mahaley
As a university, one of the major concerns is the safety of its students and the availability of resources to victims and people who look to prevent sexual assault and violence from occurring. One of the ways the WCU Police Department has sought to provide some resources to students is through the Rape Aggression Defense System (RAD).
The course is taught by certified instructors and among them is Sergeant Jacob Deal. Deal was one of several from WCU to attend the 2015 University of Tennessee at Knoxville training program.
R.A.D. express programs were implemented in 2016 and include discussions on awareness and risk reduction followed by a self-defense component. Other options for the course can include a nine and 12 hour program going more in-depth about techniques and how to evaluate certain situations. Women are taught how to use various objects on their person as weapons of defense and how to escape and evade an attacker.
Filmed and edited by Morgan Miller.
According to Deal, most people choose to include the simulation portion (12 Hr). The nine-hour program is exactly the same as the 12 but does not include the simulation exercises at the end.
“We don’t charge anything for our students, faculty, and staff here to go through the program,” said Deal. “We do at least one per semester and we offer it completely free of charge. We want to make sure everybody has the opportunity to go through the program that they wish and we do not want money to be an issue that they run into.” Resident Assistants can request the R.A.D Express Program online to be held in resident halls.
Amber York, a resident assistant in Blue Ridge, said hosting R.A.D programs in the dorms is important because “most sexual assaults occur when you are at the college age and it’s important for students to know how to defend themselves if a situation like that were to arise.”
“The R.A.’s do a great job about advertising the self-defense programs inside the halls,” said Deal. “We have anywhere between 10 to 20 people in the resident halls that participate.” These programs are conducted at least once monthly according to Deal.
“There are always good experiences when people attend the R.A.D programs because they are able to learn new ways to protect themselves,” said York.
The R.A.D course through WCU’s physical education programs caps the classes at 20 to keep a good student to instructor ratio explained Deal.
Hundreds of students have participated in these courses and programs since its inception. “As it stands currently, we will be offering the one class per semester that we open to the campus community,” said Deal. “I would like to offer more, but with only four instructors certified, we run into some logistical and scheduling difficulties.”
York said she feels that she is trained for sexual assault as much as she can be. “It’s honestly one of those situations that you probably learn from by actually handling it,” said York “If a resident came up to me and reports an assault, I know I have to tell them I am a CS, which means I have to report it to my higher-ups and I can also help them find counseling if they prefer that”
These programs are not only available to women but men too.
Deal was able to go to Virginia Tech recently to get the R.A.D for men certification because it pops up very rarely and is hard to find nearby. This is due to be put into effect the fall semester of 2018 at WCU.
For more information about the R.A.D. Program, please contact Sergeant Jacob Deal at 828-227-3207.
