Staff from San Jose State’s Gender Equity Center (GenEC) and Title IX Office, along with four other organizations, hosted a consent cooler event to advocate for learning about consent in sexual and healthy relationships.
Jessica Short, GenEC program coordinator, and Mary Keating, a Title IX Investigator, hosted the table with a trivia wheel with information on consent and popsicle prizes on Seventh Street Plaza in front of the Wellness Center on Wednesday.
The GenEC is an organization on campus that advocates and protects students from gender discrimination, according to its website.
Short said she is launching ambassador training sessions with information on sexual violence culture as well as safe and healthy relationships at the end of September.
Keating said she does some prevention training, but is there for students when they experience issues with consent in healthy relationships.
“You can report to Title IX if you or somebody you see, somebody you live with has any kind of a problem with sexual harassment, sexual assault, stalking, anything that has to do with gender or sex,” Keating said.
Short, who is also with the Student Union as a solidarity member, said “The Gender Equity Center as an overview is a safe place for students to come and hang out, chill,” Short said.
She also said the center has a lactation room, free safe-sex supplies and menstrual products.
“Then we [the Gender Equity Center] do educational outreach,” Short said. “So part of that is the ambassador training, but part of that is also our Lunch and Learn Series, which we’re hoping to relaunch.”
Keating said the Title IX Office also extends its services to prevent hiccups in academic performance or instruction.
“[The Title IX Office] provides a lot of support,” Keating said. “We talk to students and staff about options they have including investigation, seeing the campus survivor advocate service central place to deliver support so that their education isn’t derailed by something that happens to them.”
Campus survivor advocate Selena Hernandez said her role is to be a confidential resource for people who don’t want to disclose to Title IX or want someone to talk to.
As a confidential resource, Hernandez said her role is to be available for students who don’t feel comfortable disclosing their experiences to Title IX, go through an investigation, or just want someone to talk to.
She also said counseling and psychological services are confidential for students would like to speak to a therapist.
Junior communications major Mikayla Cowan, said she stopped by the booth to learn more about safe sex resources.
Cowan said she hasn’t personally used these resources, but noticed they are easily accessible and that it’s very helpful to have them, especially in the bathroom.
She also said she hasn’t had the best experience with Title IX.
Cowan said she had a case within the first weeks of coming onto campus as a freshman and it took until the end of her sophomore year to get it “all settled and figured out.”
She said throughout the case, it appeared they were trying to be helpful, but for her, she felt pushed away.
Mary Keating said she understood the intimidation factor of coming into the Title IX Office, but still encourages students looking for help to call or email. “We’ll put them behind a closed door and tell them what their options are, and let them think about it,” Keating said. “Nobody pushes them into something like going to the police, but it’s always good to know what your possibilities are.”
