After being cancelled due to low turnout a few weeks, the Katy Benoit safety forum began with more student turn out than the previous event.
Blaine Eckles, Dean of Students, said he wants to see more student involvement with this event in future years, especially with how important the issue is.
“I would love to see this room packed because this is a conversation is important … because it absolutely matters. … We can change lives and save lives as a result,” Eckles said.
Emilie McLarnan, UI violence prevention programs coordinator, said it was important to reschedule this event as it is important for students and the campus as a whole.
“For me, it was very disappointing … This is an important thing for our campus … It is important to keep working on the formula…,” McLarnan said.
At the event, students were shown the documentary “The Hunting Ground,” which describes the epidemic of sexual assault on college campuses.
This documentary discusses how colleges deal with sexual assault.
Following the showing of the documentary, students were able to ask panelists questions regarding the tough issues and topics that were brought up in the documentary.
Director of the UI Women’s Center, Lysa Salsbury said she hoped students could learn from this event and the resources that are available to students on campus.
“I really hope that they learn about the resources, on our campus, specifically the confidential and non-confidential resources and how to access those as well as how to help a friend who is struggling in an aftermath of an assault. … I also hope they leave feeling empowered to get involved themselves and do their part to create a safer campus,” Salsbury said.
Panelists answer students questions about sexual assault following the showing of “The Hunting Ground”.
Salsbury described the the unique role Women’s Centers serve on campus safety.
“Women’s centers on college campuses have historically been safe spaces for sexual assault … Historically, we have always been seen as a place where survivors can come and tell their stories … we serve all individuals, all survivors, staff members, and students … our center is meant to be a safe place for individuals,” Salsbury said.
This event not only focused on sexual assault but also aimed to remember Katy Benoit, a psychology graduate student, who died after being shot 11 times by UI professor Ernesto Bustamante in August 2011.
Benoit and Bustamante had been engaged in a romantic relationship, but Benoit ended the relationship in March of that year after he threatened her multiple times with a gun. She later filed a report against him with Moscow Police and the university in June.
“I had the privilege of meeting Katy’s parents … and to this day they have concerns about “what we as an institution are doing to help educate students about sexual assault,…” Eckles said. I am very honored to say that we have the safety forum in honor of their daughter… so that while her life may have ended that her memory will not fade away from this institution.”
Cody Allred can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @CodyLAllred