2008 Woodie Awards
Discussions explore violence against women issues, causes, solutions
Cait Lemon & Laura Bond
Issue date: 9/28/06 Section: News
- Page 1 of 1
By Cait Lemon & Laura Bond
Staff Reporter & News Editor
The UTC Transformation Project brings speakers to campus to bring awareness to violence against women.
Katie Koestner, a survivor of date rape, spoke to students recently in the UC auditorium.
At age 18, Koestner was sexually assaulted by a fellow student at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Va.
Koestner was the first woman to speak out nationally about date rape.
She was featured on the cover of the June 3, 1991 of Time, and her story was the subject of an HBO movie.
She has spoken at other schools like MIT, Brown and the Naval Academy.
She also helped to pass the Campus Sexual Assault Victim's Bill of Rights into law in 1992.
"When I was 18, date rape didn't exist," she said.
"One in four women are sexually assulted," she continued. "Maybe my story will help change the numbers."
After the rape, Koestner returned to Willam and Mary to graduate magna cum laude.
She graduated in the same class that her rapist did.
"I'm not here to ask for your pity, I'm here to ask for your strength," she said.
"I came here to ask you a question," she continued. "Would you be willing to stop rape?"
Former NFL and CFL quarterback Don McPherson came to campus on Monday to talk about men's violence against women and how to prevent it.
Kate Ensley, a Chattanooga freshman, showed up to see the speaker for extra credit purposes but was looking forward to hearing a different side of the issue.
"I think it will be interesting to see from a male perspective ,but I don't really know what to expect," she said.
McPherson discussed the importance of bringing men into the dialogue instead of the issue centering on the women victims.
He pointed out that people often use the term "battered woman" as though it's a quality of the woman.
"We don't study her to find out why he [beat her]," he said.
He also discussed how silence allows bad behaviors such as alcoholism and domestic abuse to be passed down from generation to generation.
"The same thing is true about violence against women," he said. "We have to speak out about it to keep it from being passed from generation to generation.
"We fail to have an honest discussion about some of these issues because we as adults are uncomfortable with [these issues]," McPherson continued.
Every October is domestic violence awareness month.
"We're going to have events the weeks of the 16h and 20th," Sara Peters, the coordinator for the Transformation Project, said.
To find out more about the Transformation Project, visit their Web site at www.utc.edu/Outreach/TransformationProject or visit Sara Peters in room 334 of the UC.
Staff Reporter & News Editor
The UTC Transformation Project brings speakers to campus to bring awareness to violence against women.
Katie Koestner, a survivor of date rape, spoke to students recently in the UC auditorium.
At age 18, Koestner was sexually assaulted by a fellow student at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Va.
Koestner was the first woman to speak out nationally about date rape.
She was featured on the cover of the June 3, 1991 of Time, and her story was the subject of an HBO movie.
She has spoken at other schools like MIT, Brown and the Naval Academy.
She also helped to pass the Campus Sexual Assault Victim's Bill of Rights into law in 1992.
"When I was 18, date rape didn't exist," she said.
"One in four women are sexually assulted," she continued. "Maybe my story will help change the numbers."
After the rape, Koestner returned to Willam and Mary to graduate magna cum laude.
She graduated in the same class that her rapist did.
"I'm not here to ask for your pity, I'm here to ask for your strength," she said.
"I came here to ask you a question," she continued. "Would you be willing to stop rape?"
Former NFL and CFL quarterback Don McPherson came to campus on Monday to talk about men's violence against women and how to prevent it.
Kate Ensley, a Chattanooga freshman, showed up to see the speaker for extra credit purposes but was looking forward to hearing a different side of the issue.
"I think it will be interesting to see from a male perspective ,but I don't really know what to expect," she said.
McPherson discussed the importance of bringing men into the dialogue instead of the issue centering on the women victims.
He pointed out that people often use the term "battered woman" as though it's a quality of the woman.
"We don't study her to find out why he [beat her]," he said.
He also discussed how silence allows bad behaviors such as alcoholism and domestic abuse to be passed down from generation to generation.
"The same thing is true about violence against women," he said. "We have to speak out about it to keep it from being passed from generation to generation.
"We fail to have an honest discussion about some of these issues because we as adults are uncomfortable with [these issues]," McPherson continued.
Every October is domestic violence awareness month.
"We're going to have events the weeks of the 16h and 20th," Sara Peters, the coordinator for the Transformation Project, said.
To find out more about the Transformation Project, visit their Web site at www.utc.edu/Outreach/TransformationProject or visit Sara Peters in room 334 of the UC.
