Students take pledge to stop, stand up to sexual violence

University of Missouri-Kansas City student athletes have engaged in the national dialogue about sexual violence by creating an “It’s On Us” video and by taking a pledge to end sexual violence by standing up and being heard.

The “It’s On Us” campaign is a national initiative launched by President Barack Obama in September 2014. The campaign promotes a change in the culture on college campuses and elsewhere regarding sexual assault.

UMKC Student Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) leaders started local efforts by creating the public service announcement (PSA) in early February 2015. Their goal was to show support for the campaign and to educate the rest of the student athlete body on the seriousness of the issue. The video features student athletes from each of UMKC’s 16 teams.

The students took their commitment to the campaign a step further in March by signing a pledge at the monthly SAAC meeting. They also took turns standing and reading the pledge’s four main lines and then signing individual pledge forms.

The campaign efforts are led by SAAC Executive Board Member Presley Chrisco of UMKC Women’s Soccer. “This is an issue that is hard to talk about, and I think it’s great that we are speaking up,” Chrisco said.

UMKC Volleyball’s Sydney Crimmins was glad to see fellow student athletes take the time and effort to pledge against sexual violence. “I hope that this video will continue to help contribute to the cause and spread throughout our Kansas City community,” she said.

“I think they did a great job with the video,” said Ursula Gurney, senior associate athletic director for UMKC Internal Operations/Senior Woman Administrator (SWA), who also serves as the Title IX deputy coordinator for UMKC Athletics.

Pat Foley, senior and UMKC Men’s Soccer student athlete, said the “It’s On Us” campaign has reinvigorated the conversation on sexual violence, and student athletes want to continue to raise awareness of the topic. “I think people will see that we have the power to stop sexual violence before it happens, and that it is the right thing to do to speak up about it,” he said.

UMKC Director of Athletics Carla Wilson acknowledged the student athletes’ vow and support of this movement. “It is gratifying to see the seriousness with which our student athletes have approached the initiative to stop sexual assault. They not only recognize that sexual assault is an issue, but have taken personal responsibility to stop it. I applaud them for their commitment and leadership in challenging all of us to do the same.”

UMKC is dedicated to making available a variety of resources to protect students, faculty, staff and visitors to its campus. The Title IX Office was established to support those individuals who experience sex-based discrimination. A website provides information about the role of the office, Title IX violations, reporting an incident, rights and responsibilities, and frequently asked questions.

“It has been good to see our student athletes engage with a nationally important and relevant topic, and to have them demonstrate their commitment,” Gurney said. “This is a good display of UMKC’s commitment to Title IX. I also think it’s a great display of what it means to be a student athlete off the playing field.”

Through the “It’s On Us” PSA and engagement in continual bystander training, SAAC members hope to enhance the level of dialogue across campus. Their ongoing training efforts include StepUP! bystander intervention training that focuses on stopping sexual violence, online sexual assault training through Drug Free Sport’s “My Playbook” programming and participation in the University of Missouri System’s “Not Anymore” sexual violence prevention training. The full student athlete body will be taking the “It’sOnUs” pledge at the fall student athlete orientation.

The national campaign has numerous well-known supporters, including popular television networks such as MTV and VH1, as well as multiple celebrities as seen in the national “ItsOnUs.org” public service announcement. To view the UMKC SAAC “It’s On Us” video, visit SASSO’s YouTube Page. It was produced by Taylor Stewart and Terence Berger.