Moria Dailey
Published: April 13, 2005
PJC student clubs run the risk of losing their share of student activities money for the following year if they don’t attend a presentation on rape risk education and training.
Vice president of Student Affairs James Martin said it was decided the presentation was to be given to clubs because all involved felt it was important that club members understand the risk of rape and the way alcohol consumption facilitates rape.
Martin explained that, while not necessarily at PJC, some club activities that take place off campus involve alcohol being served. He said that at some of these events, club members became intoxicated and some inappropriate contact occurred between club members.
The presentation, which is about 50 minutes long, touches on subjects such as self-esteem, characteristics of unhealthy relationships and drug-facilitated rape, as well as many other topics. Each presentation is given by Angel Hill, coordinator of PJC’s Rape Risk Education and Training Program.
Hill explained that she not only gives presentations to PJC clubs, but also to certain classes.
“The teacher invites me in, and I go and give the presentation,” she said, adding, “The way it usually works is once I’ve given a presentation to one of a teachers’ classes, they usually invite me back to talk to all the other classes they teach.”
Clubs are encouraged to schedule Hill’s presentation during their normal club meeting hours or to attend an already scheduled presentation that is convenient for club members. If there is a club that doesn’t attend, Martin contacts Dennis Reynolds, Dean of Student Activities, who then meets with the club to discuss and find out why they haven’t attended the presentation and then tries to reschedule the club for a presentation.
According to Reynolds, all clubs have been very cooperative.
“We haven’t had to zero fund anyone that I know of,” Reynolds said. “But if it has happened, it was probably because the club was inactive that year.”
PJC’s Rape Risk Education and Training program is funded by a grant from the Department of Health that was received in July 2003. Hill explained that the program was discussed after a PJC student was raped at Pensacola Beach the night before leaving on a school trip. While on the trip, the student told her advisor what had happened.
PJC’s current records show that there have been no rapes on campus in the past several years. Hill attributes this to the fact that PJC is a commuter college, and said though there haven’t been any rapes on campus, there are many students who have been raped.
If a student is raped, on or off campus, the Rape Risk Reduction office can be contacted at 484-1792.
