Mississippi State’s Department of Relationship Violence & Outreach provides students with services and educations that deals with sexualized violence.
Beatrice Tatem, the director of the Department of Relationship Violence & Outreach, encourages students to make the most of the programs offered.
“Even in safe places, individuals need to help to make it safe. (Not utilizing the university’s sexual assault protection services) is like driving a car and not wearing a seatbelt,” she said.
Tatem said MSU’s department’s programs are successful and an example for other universities, as indicated by the $300,000 federal grant awarded to the department from the Office on Violence Against Women.
The department has a new name – The Department of Relationship Violence & Outreach – and a new location: the Henry Meyer Media Center, next to the State Fountain Bakery.
But the quality care and support for students has not changed, Tatem said.
On April 17 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., The Department of Relationship Violence & Outreach will host “Women for Women,” which will include information booths and a mini “Justice for Jeans” fashion show, designed to honor a rape victim blamed for being raped because of her tight jeans.
Later that day at 6:30 p.m., during “Take Back the Night,” students can see candles lit, flowers tossed into Chadwick Lake and hear a faculty member speak about being a rape survivor.
Events hosted throughout the year- the Clothesline Project, Walk a Mile in Her Shoes, the Be Safe Campaign and the White Ribbon Campaign- focus on a particular aspect of sexual violence and remind students of the dimensions of the department’s support.
The many T-shirts displayed on the Drill Field for the Clothesline Project is the department’s signature and annual kick-off.
Timothy Broadbridge, graduate assistant for the office majoring in business administration, said the 400 males wore high heels for the Walk a Mile in Her Shoes in an attempt to experience a survivor’s perspective.
The Be Safe Campaign reminds freshman of preventative tactics and their role of responsibility for others, Tatem said.
The White Ribbon Campaign is a national program for men and by men to address men’s role in the elimination of sexualized violence.
Tatem said she hopes these events empower students to help eliminate sexual violence.
Wednesday night’s Vagina Monologues held at Rick’s Café addressed topics such as rape, mutilation, sexual pleasure and confidence.
Many attendants sat down with a drink in hand, and laughter reached hysterical as  the “My Angry Vagina” and “The Woman Who Loved to Make Vaginas Happy” monologues were performed.
LaWanda D. Swan, who assisted with the event and is the coordinator for the Department of Relationship Violence & Outreach, said she was pleased, but not surprised, by the “accepting energy of the crowd,” and the high number of males in the crowd.
For the first time at MSU, The Vagina Monologues was student run.
The “heartfelt realness” and freeing experience of the audience came from the performers’ connection to the mini stories the legendary Eve Ensler collected in her interviews of 200 women.
“They are responsible for telling the stores of many women who could not tell it themselves,” Swan said. “It is a combination of stories, feelings and thoughts that gave people a great view of how similar, and yet different, women can be.”