Check Out Page 8 For More Photos of Campus Beautification Jamie Hwang/ THE FLARE
The digital sign located in front of Dodson Auditorium is a recent addition to the KC campus beautification project.
Vol. 82, No. 4 Serving Kilgore College since 1936
October 12, 2018
KC community speaks up about sexual assault A ccording to RAINN’s (Rape, Assault and Incest National Network), every 98 seconds an American is sexually assaulted. The Break the Silence event, which took place on Tuesday, was made up of several women holding signs with statistics related to sexual assault and blowing a whistle every 98 seconds, signifying the amount of time that passes between every case of sexual assault in America. The event held in The Mike Miller Plaza was intended to bring awareness to sexual assault and benefit Rahab Retreat and Ranch. Rahab’s Retreat & Ranch is a voluntary, free, faith-based program serving victims of sex trafficking and women in the sex industry. “What inspired me to do this was that I wanted to get awareness for a social issue,” said Caitlyn Jimerson, KC sophomore. “I’m happy that I was able to volunteer for my friend, and friends of friends.” Sexual assault is a topic that, because of the frequency with which it happens, is beginning to gain more recognition and awareness.
“This started with my English teacher, Gus LaFosse. He wanted us to come up with a solution to fix an issue,” said Jimerson. “Nobody was talking about sexual assault even when this was something that needed to be talked about on our campus. So I got with Mrs. (Tina) Rushing and she helped me with it,” she added. KC students and volunteers expressed their support to sexual assault victims and proved that they are not alone in their struggle to overcome this traumatic experience. “We know that survivors gather the unspeakable amount of courage it takes to speak up and say ‘Me Too’.” said Rushing, sociology instructor and Diversity Alliance sponsor, as she addressed the crowd “So today, from the words of author Alex Elle, we say to all survivors: ‘you are not a victim sharing your story. You are a survivor setting the world on fire with your truths and you never know who needs your light, your warmth and your raging courage,’” —by Mary Williams-Smith
Facts on Sexual Assault: n More than 50 percent of college sexual assaults occur in either August, September, October, or November. n Students are at an increased risk during the first few months of their first and second semesters in college. n It is estimated that only 5 percent of sexual assaults on college campuses are reported.
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Catie Denfeld/ THE FLARE
Caitlyn Jimerson, left, blows a whistle every 98 seconds to signify a sexual assault in America. She decided to take a stand following a class challenge by English instructor Gus Lafosse. Members of the Diversity Alliance provided their support.
n KC counselor - Jennifer Quine LPC 903-983-8285 n National Sexual Assault Hotline 1-800-656-4673 n RAINN website: www.rainn.org n Women’s Center of East Texas Hotline 800-441-5555
KC impresses visiting committee SACS-COC team evaluates college’s educational enterprises ADRIANA CISNEROS EMERSON Executive Editor KC’s on-site accreditation visit took place over four days last week and ended in a flurry of information for the visiting committee from the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges. The process, which occurs every ten years, ensures that the institution meets the standards required to guarantee excellence in education. “The committee was here reviewing our facilities, student learning outcomes, and faculty qualifications. They were also reviewing our management of our financial resources and the students’ services we provide. Those were the broad topics,” said Dr. Staci Martin, vice president of institutional planning. On Monday, Oct. 1, the committee visited KC— Longview, as well as dual credit facilities at Longview Pine Tree and Kilgore High Schools to inspect whether the college was
providing the same quality of education there as well. “It is a very complicated process with multiple steps,” Martin said. “We started working over two years ago in evaluating our compliance with over 80 standards we must be held to by our accrediting agency.” SACS-COC is the regional body for the accreditation of degree-granting higher education institutions in the Southern states. According to its website, it serves as “the common denominator of shared values and practices among the diverse institutions in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia and Latin America and other international sites approved by the SACSCOC Board of Trustees that award associate, baccalaureate, master’s, or doctoral degrees. The Commission also accepts applications from other international institutions of higher education.” The process at KC included
many different people, from disciplines across campus, going through the documents several times to ensure that the information was accurate, understandable and complete. Administrators then focused on certain aspects they believed needed improvement. “In May we got a notification that we had eight areas we needed to work on, which is below average. We worked during the summer to clear those things up, to better explain and to provide more documentation,” Martin said. “That information, as well as our Quality Enhancement Plan document, was provided to the committee that came on campus in August so that they could review that ahead of their visit.” Consequently, the KC administration successfully addressed the majority of these requirements. “After all, there were two of those eight standards we did not meet. However, we do have another chance to respond to these before our
accreditation is actually voted on next June.” Regarding those that KC did meet, Martin said the standards in compliance covered a variety of topics. “It ranges from adequacy of student services to appropriate library resources. Also, that our curriculum is adequate, that we have appropriate policies and procedures and that we collect data to show the achievements of students, among other things,” she said. After the cycle of hard work, Martin recognized the level of dedication and commitment the college showed. “This was truly a team effort of people throughout the entire college,” she said. “It took over two years to do this and many, many people contributed to this leading up to the visit. The committee was very complimentary of the college, of the welcome they received and every detail that we took care of to show them that we are a quality institution.”
Sara Harris / THE FLARE
KeAmbroa Moss, Longview freshman, studies in the Devall Student Center during a break between classes. Next week marks the halfway point of the Fall semester. Students are encouraged to continue completing assignments, communicating with instructors and visiting The Zone Tutoring Labs (located on the Kilgore and Longview campuses).
Look for our Homecoming Issue of The Flare on Friday, Oct. 26. In the meantime, visit our newly renovated website at www.theflareonline.com