White Ribbon Campaign Expands Fight Against Sexual Assault
Date: Oct. 9, 2000
By: Marianne Kunnen-Jones
Phone: (513) 556-1826
Archive: General News
Cincinnati -- You've heard of red ribbons to promote AIDS awareness and seen pink ribbons in the fight against breast cancer. Now students at the University of Cincinnati are asking individuals, especially men, to wear white ribbons.
The White Ribbon Campaign, founded by a Canadian activist, will come to campus
Monday, Oct. 16, to open Sexual Assault Awareness Week (Oct. 16-20). The campaign,
from noon to 2 p.m. on McMicken Commons, advocates an end to violence against
women. Members of two campus organizations and UC baseball players, led by Coach
Brian Cleary, have agreed to pass out ribbons and ask men to sign a pledge to end
violence against women.
UC Women's advocate Rani Varghese (right) and Vinnie Ray (left) are seen here getting ready for the week's events. The events, sponsored by Students Organized Against Rape (SOAR) and the UC Women's Center, also include the following:
Monday, Oct. 16-Friday, Oct. 20: The Clothesline Project, displayed on McMicken
Commons and inside Tangeman University Center on a roving basis, will display T-shirts
created in memory of victims of sexual assault and abuse. Individuals will also be invited
to create their own T-shirts to add to the exhibit on campus.
Tuesday, Oct. 17: A self defense workshop, taught by UC Women's Center assistant
director Robin Arnsperger and women s advocate and sexual assault response
coordinator Rani Varghese, will meet from 2 to 5 p.m. in the aerobics room at Laurence
Hall.
Wednesday, Oct. 18: The powerful one-woman show, "Don't Speak My Mother's
Name in Vain," performed by African American performing artist Reanae McNeal, will
depict how women have survived rape/sexual assault and the experience of racism. The
two-hour show begins at 6:30 p.m. in Room 118, College of Law.
McNeal's first four
characters are based on stories that her grandmothers told her as well as historical
documentation and research. The second four are modern-day African American women
who deal with the complex issues of rape/sexual assault in the context of generations of
brutality. Admission is free with a UC staff or student I.D. and $5 for the general public.
Thursday, Oct. 19: African American performing artist and storyteller Reanae
McNeal will present a Food For Thought program from noon to 2 p.m. in the President's
Dining Room, on the topic of violence against women. Admission is free and open to the
public. Lunch will be offered.
For more information, call Vinnie Ray at (513) 556-6261.
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