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Issue 2 | Wednesday, September 9, 2015 | www.thesputnik.ca
O-WEEK:
And so it begins!
Laurier’s Hawk Pact Meghan Gauvin Assistant News Editor
shop, which will take place at Laurier Brantford on Wednesday Alongside the typical morning of Orientation promises of a high en- Week programing. ergy time to help first Catherine Mulvihill Diyears adjust to student rector of Student Expelife at Laurier Brantford, rience at the Waterloo this year campus admin- campus, explained that istration is setting forth Hawk Pact aims to cover initiatives to ensure that topics of mental health, students are aware of substance abuse and the university’s growing consent. commitment to sexual assault awareness. “It’s a start to a “We want to let everyone know that we’re really important making conversations conversation” about consent and sexu- - Catherine Mulvihill, Director of Student Experience al assault a priority during Orientation Week,” said Laurier Student’s “These are all relevant Union in a Facebook post subjects that we need to on September 2. review,” said Mulvihill. One way that Laurier Mulvihill addressed the is hoping to educate in- fact that there are comcoming students about plexities to the nature of sexual assault is through conversations about conthe introduction of its sent, and explained that new “Hawk Pact” work- Hawk Pact will be a first
step. “It’s a start to a really important conversation... It’s a broad introduction... we’re not trying to solve anything in that session but we want students to feel comfortable to start talking,” said Mulvihill. “When we talk about substances and we talk about alcohol we do acknowledge when somebody is intoxicated... they can’t give consent,” said Mulvihill. Hawk Pact will be introduced to Laurier Brantford’s first years through a series of presentations by campus leaders like, Adam Lawrence, Dean of Students, Laura Mae Lindo, Director of The Diversity and Equity Office and Melissa DiLeo, from The Centre of Student Life and Engagement. Orientation Week’s
Wednesday night programing will also consist of the annual Mike Domitrz “Can I Kiss You” presentation, which has run on campus for the last five years. The presentation offers students a tangible explanation of consent and works to reiterate its importance. Laurier’s Gender Violence Task Force is working with an organization made up of Laurier students and alum, called Advocates for a Student Culture of Consent (ASCC) to create Laurier’s first sexual assault policy and protocol. Karly Rath, co-founder of ASCC, explained that by working to create a sexual assault policy Laurier is making a commitment to help survivors of sexual assault, “continue their education and life in the best way possi-
ble.” According to Rath, the policy will focus on supporting survivors of sexual violence and work to ensure that their needs are met and respected by Laurier. ASCC will be presenting the policy to Laurier’s Senate on November 20, and to the Board of Governors on November 26. Rath explained that Laurier’s Gender Violence Task Force is also currently working with advocacy groups within the student community to create a consent campaign called, “Consent is Golden: Do you get it?” The Laurier wide campaign will begin this year and aims to focus on establishing the importance of consent and will work to explain what consent is.