I’m writing in response to the article you ran on Thursday, Sept. 29 concerning changes to SOAR advising and the program’s overall schedule.
In the piece, it was explained that the health and safety orientation of SOAR would be removed as to give students more time to register for classes. Therefore, the orientation, including its portion on sexual assault at UW-Madison, would be moved to Welcome Week. This move was justified by the notion that “when students have moved on campus … the information [will be] more meaningful for them,” according to Wren Singer, director of the Center for the First Year Experience.
By moving the delivery of this vital information to Welcome Week, PAVE worries a large portion of the freshman body will not hear it. During this time, new students are busy making friends and getting acclimated with their new environment, as they should be. When held during SOAR, the vast majority of the incoming class participated in the health and safety orientation. We question whether the same participation will be possible with the recent changes.
PAVE is in the process of working with campus administrators to put a mandatory, first-year violence prevention program in place. We can’t help but view these changes as a dismissal of a serious problem on campus and a humongous step backwards in the efforts to prevent sexual assault at UW-Madison.
One in four women will be victims of rape or attempted rape throughout their time at college. We appreciate that steps are being taken to educate Badgers about this serious problem, but we would like to see this program implemented and executed better. We invite CFYE and other campus administrators to reach out to and work with us in doing so.
Sincerely,
Jacqueline O’Reilly
Media Advocate
Promoting Awareness, Victim Empowerment (PAVE)
