April Is Sexual Assault Prevention And Awareness Month

April is nationally observed as Sexual Assault Prevention and Awareness Month. Acknowledging the fact that this issue impacts many of our Aggies and surrounding communities, Health Promotion, as a part of Student Life and the Division of Student Affairs, has partnered with several student organizations, campus departments and local service agencies to offer prevention education and awareness opportunities to students, staff and faculty.   

Programming includes live panels, Instagram stories, trauma-informed yoga and boxing courses with Rec Sports, and active fundraisers hosted by student organizations for advocacy services across Brazos Valley: the Sexual Assault Resource Center (SARC), Unbound Now BCS, Scotty’s House, and Twin City Mission Domestic Violence Services.

Paint It Teal 2023
The Sexual Assault Resource Center of Brazos Valley (SARC) is honoring the start of Sexual Assault Prevention & Awareness Month with a Paint It Teal 2023 initiative on Saturday, April 1, from 9:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. SARC will provide training, practice and all the information needed before sending groups out to their assigned spaces in the community to ask local businesses to hang SARC flyers. Volunteers can sign up at tx.ag/PaintItTeal and will also receive a prize for helping build fellowship, educate others and spread awareness of services. 

National Day Of Action
Tuesday, April 4 is the Sexual Assault Awareness Month National Day of Action, also known as Teal Tuesday. This day of action aims to stop sexual violence through education on consent, boundaries and creating systemic change. Individuals are encouraged to wear teal, the designated awareness color, to show their support for sexual assault prevention, education, and policy that support survivors and resources.  

Professional Development Workshop
SARC will also host a professional development workshop on Tuesday, April 4, from 9-10:30 a.m. in the Student Services Building (SSB) Room 208 at Texas A&M. This workshop will provide space for faculty and professional staff to learn about the ways SARC supports survivors, collaborates with our campus and reaches our other local communities. Participants will learn about different types of sexual violence and how to respond using trauma-informed techniques. Participants can register at tx.ag/SARCTraining.

Take Back The Night
This year’s Take Back the Night event will take place Wednesday, April 5, from 6-8:30 p.m. in Aggie Park on War Hymn Field. This event is cohosted with Health Promotion and student organizations Feminism4Aggies and Sophomore Leaders Impacting, Developing & Educating. Join them for a night of awareness, resources, community connection and student-led fundraising for local survivor support agencies. Find more formation at tx.ag/TakeBackTheNight.

Night Of Hope
Unbound Now BCS will host its Night of Hope on Tuesday, April 11, from 6-9 p.m. at The Weinberg at Wixon Valley. Night of Hope is a powerful event that celebrates the courageous victories of the survivors Unbound Now BCS serves, and casts vision for Unbound Now’s work in the coming year. Everyone is invited to attend and support this fundraising, awareness and prevention event.  

Sunrise Boxing
Texas A&M Rec Sports and Living Well will host Sunrise Boxing from 6:15-7:15 a.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays from April 11-20 in the Student Rec Center Heavy Bag Room. These classes are open for registration to Texas A&M students, faculty and staff.   

Denim Day
Wednesday, April 26, marks Denim Day, the longest-running sexual violence prevention and education campaign in history. Denim Day asks community members, elected officials, businesses and students to make a social statement by wearing jeans on this day as a visible means of protest against the misconceptions that surround sexual violence. Learn more at DenimDayInfo.org. 

The full calendar of events is available on the Student Life website. Health Promotion officials say they hope many will join in solidarity as an Aggie community and the broader communities they represent.  Those interested in receiving resources or more information on interpersonal violence prevention programming may contact Dr. Denise Crisafi and Megan Woodfield in Health Promotion. 

About Health Promotion
Health Promotion is home to the Green Dot Bystander Intervention Program, STAND Up Trauma-Informed Care program, as well as other violence prevention, alcohol and substance abuse prevention, and wellness workshops that can be requested for free by our campus community.