Left to Right: Rayna Teague, Marna Dodson, and Jordan Chambers pose in front of the welcome desk for the pumpkin event, with a few members from the SASA board on Nov. 5, 2020. Photo by Lili Stapel.
The Students Against Sexual Assault (SASA) organization, in partnership with the social entrepreneurship class, held a paint-a-pumpkin event on Nov. 5 to spread awareness for sexual assault and raise money for the non-profit organization, REACH.
In one of many sexual assault awareness events hosted by SASA since 2018, 50 students (we have originally reported 30) were invited to paint a pumpkin for a $4 fee and learn about sexual assault and resources offered through Resources, Education, Assistance, Counseling and Housing (REACH) of Macon and Jackson County for sexual assault victims. Students were given cards provided by REACH containing general information, resources for victims, legal information about sexual assault cases and misconceptions of sexual assault.
Participants also had the chance to enter their pumpkin into the pumpkin painting contest by posting to Instagram with the hashtag #SASAWCU for a chance to win a self-defense key chain, including a personal alarm with a built-in flashlight, a kubaton and a lip balm holder.
This is the self-defense key chain students would win in the painting competition, with the hashtag #SASAWCU.
Rayna Teague and Jordan Chambers, freshmen at WCU, were assigned to do an event in their social entrepreneurship class to fundraise for a non-profit for a cause of their choosing. They decided to do the event on sexual assault because of its prevalence on college campuses, as 1 in 5 women will experience sexual assault while attending college, according to the Annual Review of Sex Research.
“I just wanted to bring more awareness to college campuses because college campuses are where a lump sum of sexual assault cases occur because people aren’t fully taught about it and don’t think what they are doing isn’t wrong when it is,” said Teague.
Teague and Chambers wanted to make the event light-hearted because of the sensitivity of the topic and were excited to work with SASA because of their dedication and prevalence on campus. Both Teague and Chambers are applying to be on the board of directors for SASA to continue working on events and spreading awareness in the future.
“It honestly scared me because this is such a sensitive topic and because I’ve never gone through anything that I can relate to, so I was like well how could I help? or where could I start? So I’m happy that we found an event that was inviting for people because a lot of people are uncomfortable with sexual assault in general and talking about it,” said Chambers.
SASA will be hosting events in the spring semester, such as a ‘Hearts-and-Crafts’ event, all proceeds going to REACH or The Center for Domestic Violence. Rayna Teague personally wants to host a flower pot event for her passion project on the board for SASA, where students can paint flower pots, plant a flower, and learn to care for their plant and themselves.
