According to a 2015 poll done by the Association of American Universities, 27.2 percent of female college seniors reported that they experienced some form of sexual harassment in college.
Four years ago, Resident Director and Waynesburg University Counseler Laurie Steere and Bailey Thorn, who is a former Resident Director and now works for McMillen Photography, mentioned how they wished they had a self-defense class in college.
“When we look statistically at college students being sexually harassed and sexually assaulted – the statistics are off the charts,” said Steere. “So, the more people that understand and know about this issue the better they are prepared if it happens to them.”
Steere and Thorn decided that they wanted to do something for the students on campus as a self-defense class. So, for the third time in four years at Waynesburg University ‘Defend WU Self’ will be held for students. Steere has been a part of ‘Defend WU Self’ every year, and this year she is partnering with Director of the Department of Public Safety, Mike Humiston.
“A lot of times, particularly for women, they are afraid to do something,” said Steere. “So, part of the night is actually physically partnering up with someone and practicing a few different things.”
The first part of the event will be talking about how to avoid situations where someone could get hurt and the second part will be the hand to hand training. This will physically prepare the students for when someone gets to close.
Humiston said he has been trained for about 15 to 20 years in Sexual Harassment and Rape Prevention. Sexual Harassment and Rape Prevention consists of ways to defend yourself by using everyday items such as a cell phone, magazines, keys, coffee mugs, shoes and other items found in a dorm room. This will give the potential victim an advantage in case of sexual harassments and assaults.
“You never know who the bad guy is a lot of the time,” said Humiston. “Maybe it’s a domestic violence, or an upset boyfriend or girlfriend situation and you find yourself alone in a dorm room or in an off-campus location and somebody is trying to get up on you. Maybe you, or someone else, had too much to drink. There are certain things that you can do to offset them and give yourself an advantage.”
Hopefully, students will never have to use the SHARP training methods, Steere said, because they will never find themselves in a situation that needs the training.
She also added that even though it seems like Waynesburg is a safe place, bad things can happen. Humiston used to teach a Life Skils course for half a semester for several years. Humiston taught students how to take a common-sense approach to situations and how to react using SHARP.
“My daughter, who went to Waynesburg University, was one of my students. She had a little bit of an advantage because as some dads do with backgrounds, [like mine], they teach their daughters certain things,” said Humiston. “So, I looked at having a daughter [and training her] as a way to look at the other students, female or male, to defend themselves in an event if they need to.”
Humiston added that bad things happen to good people and that everyone is a victim, but what matters is to what degree of a victim you want to be.
Free snacks and drinks, as well as a free t-shirt, will be provided to everyone who attends the event. Steere said that her favorite part of the event is seeing all the students come together to learn and benefit from something non-academic related like ‘Defend WU Self.’
“In residence life, we are always talking about how our two biggest concerns are health and safety,” said Steere. “So, offering students another opportunity to learn about safety, is something that I am all for.”
The event will take place at 7 p.m. Nov. 7 in the old gym of the Rudy Marisa Fieldhouse.