Larissa Lamarca
Contributing Writer
After careful consideration, members of the student organization, k(no)w, have decided to change their name to Sexual Respect Coalition (SRC). The decision to change names was largely due to the problems new students had understanding the function of the organization.
“During events such as Scot Spirit Day, we would have to recite our ‘tag line’ to every new face: ‘We are k(no)w, the campus’ sexual respect and anti-rape culture advocacy organization’,” said Isabel Bonhomme ’19, the co-president of the newly named SRC. Since the organization has been around for several years, and with all the new students on campus, the members decided to begin looking for a simpler name which would explain their function immediately. Bonhomme said that there is already a lot of positive feedback for changing their name to SRC.
SRC has many goals on campus and works with administration and students. For students, SRC creates events such as Sex Month, Sex Education Month and workshops or screenings during the academic year that provide more information on rape culture and sexual education in general. Executive board members take these goals and work on improving the campus climate for the students. A few ways in which this has already been done is through the creation of the Campus Notification System and the separation of the positions of Title IX deputy and director of students rights and responsibilities. This separation allowed there to be a full time Title IX deputy on campus.
Each new member of the executive board brings new focuses to SRC. “This last semester or two, SRC has been putting attention on several things: increased attendance and wider audience of our message, which includes a more active effort to reach out to a larger pool of student organizations, athletic teams and Greek organizations; making SRC more diverse and collaborating with a wider variety of student organizations, as well as working with a more diverse group of people for our more behind-the-scenes advocacy work with administration,” said Bonhomme. Further, they are working with administration to create a themed house to open next fall for SRC.
In addition to the name change and their current work, SRC recently hosted an event with fraternity Xi Chi Psi called, “How Not to Be An Asshole.” During the event, topics such as navigating hookup culture, campus relationships, party etiquette (dance floor behavior), consent (clear communication) and STI testing were all discussed from the perspective of male privilege. The event was set up in a more casual manner so that equality of all attendants and more open discussion would be encouraged.
“It was suggested to SRC that I should more or less take the lead for the event, because I helped organize and lead the first ever ‘How Not to Be an Asshole’ event in 2016 as an active k(no)w member,” said Isaac Scher ’18, a member of Xi Chi Psi. Scher has worked closely with Bonhomme and Henry Mai ’20 from SRC, as well as Gianmarco Martignetti ’20 and Taylor Myers ’19 from Xi Chi Psi to organize and host this event. “This was absolutely a group effort,” said Scher.
A main goal of this event was to encourage men to participate with SRC, as males typically have a lower attendance at SRC events. Scher says that fundamentally, they aimed to invite males and discuss various ways in which men neglect their personal responsibilities in romantic and sexual relationships. In the words of Scher, “Essentially, ‘How Not to Be an Asshole’ is an attempt to get men (again — in particular, but not exclusively) to start thinking critically about their behavior — particularly towards women, but also towards other men and themselves, too.”
The turnout at the event was largely similar to 2016, with primarily women. Even though this was not the goal, “How Not to Be An Asshole” was still designed in a way to address all genders and how they should act in sexual and romantic relationships.
Bonhomme says there are a lot greater changes and implementations to come in the near future and hopes events such as this one can become annual conversations to further encourage men to participate.