Em-URGE-ing Voices

Posts Tagged: college campus

Abolish Greek Life To Abolish College Rape Culture

CW: sexual assault, rape, rape culture Author’s Note: Greek Life in this article refers to organizations who are a part of the National Interfraternity Conference (NIC) or the National Panhellenic Conference (NPC). Photos depicted in this article are chosen for illustrative purposes. This article is not targeted towards any specific organization or any organization that happens to be depicted.  Sexual assault is pervasive on college campuses across the country. Our educational institutions are frequent perpetrators of rape culture, “an environment in which rape is prevalent and in which sexual violence against women is normalized and excused….” According to data from RAINN, 26.4% of undergraduate women and 6.8% of undergraduate men reported experiencing rape or sexual assault. 13% of all students, both graduate and undergraduate, have experienced rape or sexual assault. … Read more »

Dear Incoming Freshman, Please Add Condoms to Your List of School Supplies

“Americans are having less sex” says CNN news article, but the spread and severity of sexually transmitted diseases and infections (STDs and STIs) are on the rise. New York magazine surveyed over 700 students and to their findings, only 41 percent of women and 49 percent of men reported being sexually active. You might assume that because of TV shows like “Skins” and “Shameless” college is a literal hotbed of sexual activity. Not so. In fact, in the same survey about 39 percent of students identified as virgins. So to assume that more and more young people are having less sex may not be far fetched. While sex is seemingly on a decline, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced this summer that  over 70 countries have identified a strain of… Read more »

Gender and Campus Carry

As mentioned in my last blog post, Campus Carry is going to be implemented in public universities across the state of Texas starting August 1st of this year. I’m trying to explore the intersects of this law and the way that different identities (other than the usual, straight, cis-gender, white male) will potentially be affected by this law. I explored the way that race and ethnicity affects who participates in Campus Carry and who feels safe with it implemented. This time, I want to discuss the way gender may play a part in the implementation of this law. I believe it’s safe to assume that the majority of students who are planning on participating in Campus Carry are men (most likely white men) for two reasons. The first of which… Read more »

Our Communities Deserve Better

  A lot of times when people talk about gun violence and gun control in the United States, they think of the numbers. Statistics are thrown around more than personal stories, and when we do talk about people involved in shootings it’s usually about labeling the shooter by the different stereotypes we’ve formulated for mass shooters: the terrorist or the mentally ill person. We don’t talk about how mass shootings and loose gun laws affect the community. I did this numbers-over-people type of thinking about gun violence without realizing it, a lot. The past few months changed that for me however. Until I was 9, my family lived in Southern California. The San Bernardino Mountains are my childhood home. A long-time family friend even works as a probation officer for… Read more »

Is Campus Carry Safe for Everyone?

Starting August 1, exactly fifty years after the infamous shooting at the University of Texas, the state of Texas will begin implementing a new law commonly known as “Campus Carry.” Once this law is enforced, it will allow individuals with concealed handgun licenses to carry a concealed weapon on the property of any public university in the state of Texas. The university president of each school is in charge of developing the policies and guidelines that their campus will follow in regards to the new law. Students all over the state have been demonstrating how they feel about the new law being put into place (Remember last years’ protests, Cocks not Glocks?). There have been protests, petitions and various forums for students and faculty to share their opinions and concerns…. Read more »

Let’s Talk About the Problem of Frats

Last week, the UCLA chapter of Sigma Phi Epsilon made headlines hosting what they deemed a “Kanye Western” party in which partygoers showed up in black face wearing chunky gold chains and fake grills. When black student activists showed up to protest the party, they were mocked by party-goers and the validity of their concerns were questioned by the broader campus community. 100 miles to the South, the University of California San Diego chapter of AEPi was publicly reprimanded for creating an official chapter t-shirt that featured a scantily-clad woman serving bread emblazoned with the words “AEPi, Making Women Challah Since 1913”. And that’s just what happened within the last week on two UC campuses. These incidents are not confined to the University of California campuses, either. Earlier this year, the… Read more »