Spending a day with Sexual Aggression Peers Advocates at CMU
CM Life reporter spends a day with CMU's Sexual Aggression Peers Advocates organization
Sexual aggression is a serious issue on many college campuses. Experiences with sexual aggression can seriously impact the social, academic and emotional life of a student. As a student in college, the safety of myself and the peers around me is something I am always wary of.
In fact, the National Sexual Violence Resource Center states that over 40% of students in college have experienced behaviors of sexual aggression.
The Sexual Aggression Peers Advocates (or SAPA) is a group of paraprofessional student volunteers on campus who provide services in sexual aggression advocacy, support, education and outreach.
They also provide a free 24/7 hotline that can be accessed through text or over the phone for those seeking support. In-person meetings can also be requested by calling the office. They work to ensure that survivors have resources they feel comfortable using in times of need.
I had the chance to attend one of their meetings that occurs on Mondays from 8:30 to 9:30 p.m. in Kuhlhavi 141/142. In these meetings, members hold dialogues for important topics surrounding sexual aggression and plan events.
“We’re survivor-centered,” said Dez Hiol, a programming committee member. “We’re just here for the survivor, we’re mostly reflective and supportive.”
The environment and attitude of the SAPA student volunteers was not what I expected. What could have been thought to be a serious, somber place was instead filled with warm, welcoming people. It felt like the members in the room truly cared what they were doing, and being able to sit in on a meeting felt like being part of a family.
SAPA has been on campus since 1997. According to the SAPA page, when the program first began, there were only 10 volunteers for the program. Now, the group has 35 advocates who go through over 60 hours of training in how to deal with difficult phone calls, according to the director of SAPA, Brie Walter-Rooks. She started working with SAPA at Central Michigan University this past September.
“There’s a specific need for survivor central services,” Walter said.
While there are many different reasons advocates have joined the program, a lot of the goals the advocates have in the program have remained the same: to help educate and support survivors of sexual aggression.
“I grew up in a small town, so there wasn’t much representation for sexual aggression,” advocate Ezme Machan said. “It’s a lot less intimidating talking to people their age.”
Emily Hansard, a resident assistant at CMU had a different reason for joining SAPA. Since RAs are mandated reporters, Hansard said she wanted to be part of a group that helped support survivors in ways she couldn’t as an RA.
“A lot of residents can’t come to me,” Hansard said. “SAPA’s a great group of people.”
Overall, the group is extremely supportive, and their message is clear: to help support survivors and spread awareness of sexual aggression on campus.
“We’re here to help you,” said Miller McCutcheon, a SAPA volunteer. “Taking the first step isn’t easy.”
So how can I help?
SAPA does various activities throughout the year. While their goal is to help aid survivors and get them the help and support they need, they also do programs and activities throughout the year to spread awareness
They partner with many clubs, groups and programs to help spread awareness of sexual aggression.
SAPA is currently accepting new applications through the program which can be found on the website. Any CMU student can volunteer through the program.
Volunteers who are accepted into the program will go through a training process where skills like crisis intervention, campus and criminal processes and other skills will be taught. This is to ensure volunteers can properly provide support either on-call or in-person for the survivor.
