Haleigh Kopinski, co-correspondent for Her Campus, asked a young man in Village Park to pose for a photograph to show support against sexual assault.  

She explained to him that it was to raise awareness against sexual violence and promote consent.

The response wasn’t what you would expect. He told her no because he was not one.

“I wasn’t sure what he meant, but then realized he probably thought I meant we wanted him to portray a rapist, so I said, ‘Oh, no. We’re raising awareness to stop it,’” Kopinski, a senior creative writing major, said. “And he was like, ‘But I’m for it.’ And turned around and walked away. Whether or not it was a joke, it’s not a joking matter, so that just shows why we need to do this.”

Her Campus is the premier global online community for college women, written entirely by college journalists.  It has over 230 chapters on various campuses all over the country.  The Point Park members are hoping to get recognition from the national Her Campus site so they can show everyone the importance of knowing about sexual assault.

The writers are gearing their articles towards topics surrounding sexual assault, consent and harassment in order to bring a voice to sexual violence.  Some of the articles include how the media feeds into the idea of rape culture, facts and statistics surrounding the topic, Title IX and Pittsburgh Action Against Rape (PAAR) at Point Park.

“All of our articles for the week of the ninth through the 15th are going to be themed around sexual violence and rape culture,” Lexie Mikula, a sophomore photojournalism major and co-correspondent for Her Campus, said.

The Point Park chapter is hoping to bring attention and awareness to their readers and educate them so they know how to respond if they find themselves in any of these situations.  

“If we do end up making some kind of change on campus, that’s awesome, but if not, we still brought that awareness to people and did our part, so at least I can sleep at night,” Jake Owens, a sophomore photojournalism major and treasurer/staff writer/photographer for Her Campus, said.

Another student feels that Her Campus’s idea of sexual violence awareness is great for the campus.

“I think what Her Campus is doing is a great idea,” Jorden Bodenschatz, a sophomore creative writing major, said. “People really misunderstand sexual assault; it covers more than most people think. It isn’t someone touching you inappropriately, it’s really the cat calling and small things you don’t think would qualify as that.”