Sexual assault is an uncomfortable subject, but Central’s Wellness Center is working to bring this topic into the light with their annual Rock Against Rape next Wednesday April 27. The event has grown over the eight years that it has been put on and this year the center is expecting to have around 400 people in attendance.

Baylee Beutel, senior interdisciplinary studies major, is in charge of Rock Against Rape. The purpose of the event is to raise awareness both on campus and in the community, as well as encourage activism and change in the environment.

Beutel is in charge of organizing the event this year but the last two years she worked as a volunteer. The most memorable experience for her was the survivor stories that she heard last year. However, the activities were still going on so many of the participants could not experience them.

“This year I really want to focus on that and kind of pause the activities and say let’s focus on this, this is really important,” Beutel said.

The event will feature around 25 clubs and organizations from both the campus and the community, each with their own activities for the participants to take part in and win prizes.

The clubs pick what they want to feature at their tables, but the central theme is to make sure that people get information about all aspects of sexual assault and consent. According to Jesse Comerford, senior public health major, the Public Health Club will be talking about consent with a matching game about what consent is.

“We are trying to prevent sexual assault… specifically on campus,” Comerford said.

For entertainment there will be live bands including Actionesse, performers and stories from survivors. They will also be showing the art of local artists: Hollie Caskey and Ellen Nevin. At the end of the event there will be a raffle with prizes that all of the participants have a chance to win.

Along with Rock Against Rape, the Wellness Center will also be putting on the Clothesline Project this month. The goal of the project is to provide a visual awareness of sexual assault, participants will be given different colored shirts according to their stories that they can write on. Then the shirts will be hung up in the SURC for everyone to see.  

The Wellness Center not only puts on big projects like Rock Against Rape, they also provide valuable services for students, such as testing for Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs), free condoms and counselling for those who have suffered a sexual assault.

According to Mallory Morse, a health educator at the center, part of her job is to reach out to students that have reported assaults of any kind to their resident assistant or to the police in order to try and help them.

“They can come in and meet in our office confidentially as well, so often times we will have students who come in [the Wellness Center] to report things that have happened and there is a level of confidentiality that will remain here versus any other office since most state employees are responsibly reporters so they have an obligation to report anything along those lines,” Morse said. “We also serve as the central hub where we try to assist them in any needs that they may have by doing as much as we can for them and so they don’t have to repeat their story over and over again.”

Sexual assault is not a topic that is easily talked about, especially for those that have gone through it but with help from events like Rock Against Rape survivors can speak out and the community gets education on how to prevent any further violence.