Growing up I remember being given guidelines to make sure that if I had ever been touched inappropriately that my mother was aware. Never had we discussed phrases like ‘rape’ or ‘sexual assault’ or ‘sexual harassment’. We only discussed ways to not encounter these things.

As a college junior, I realize how much I didn’t know then and that I still do not know now. So badly I want to be able to engage in conversations that spread awareness about sexual assault and rape culture, but yet again, society has politicized an important issue, making it difficult to engage in open and honest conversation.

Hearing Kate speak yesterday evening was another step forward in being open. I understand that this level of engagement on campus, let alone the world, will not happen overnight, but that having safe spaces like the one created by the Rose Scholars Program, is a step in the right direction. No man or woman, boy or girl, should have any question or concern, connected to rape culture and/or sexual assault, unanswered.

With that in mind, family and friends, we need to talk…