Students Against Sexual Harassment is an on-campus club dedicated to promoting sexual harassment awareness and healthy relationships. Although fairly new on campus, Chloe Pappa, SASH President, hopes it will leave a lasting impression on the campus community.
She said she believes sexual assault is an important issue that needs to be addressed, specifically with college students. SASH not only provides encouragement for students but also educational resources so students can learn about sexual misconduct.
“I deeply believe that the Samford population was waiting for this conversation to happen, because I’ve heard so many stories over my years of being a student from people affected by sexual harassment,” Pappa said. “By starting the conversation and kind of being a more straight-to-the-point type of organization, it challenges people to realize that there is more going on outside of themselves.”
SASH’s mission statement is “Awareness, education, activism.”
Pappa also wanted to emphasize that SASH is meant for all students, regardless of past trauma or experiences.
“I stress this anytime I talk about SASH, but SASH is for everyone, regardless if they have their own experience with sexual harassment or not. We hope you don’t have an experience because that means something is changing and we are doing something good,” Pappa said.
According to Samford’s published Three-Year Crime Statistics, two reports of fondling and one report of rape in 2020 were cataloged on Samford’s main campus. SASH is hoping to cultivate a safe space for both victims and allies.
SASH has held self-defense classes and actively posts resources about ways to help loved ones who have experienced sexual-assault, encouragement of healthy relationships and other preventative safety tips. Students can find other updates and events on their Instagram page and also can report sexually-related crimes to the Title IX office. The Title IX office at Samford works to prevent violent acts on campus, which includes acts of sexual harassment.
Pappa reflected on her work with SASH.
“I started SASH as a way for me to process my own journey with sexual harassment and do something proactive to prevent it from happening to anyone else. I hope that it grows to be a place where people feel empowered to stand up for anyone and everyone, and feel like they have a say in important issues that affect college students,” Pappa said.
Staff Writer
