Annual It Ends Now campaign adds Teach In component

The “It Ends Now” campaign is back for another year of uniting the community on the issues of sexual and domestic violence.

The program, which has been an annual University of Richmond event since 2011, brings out students, faculty and staff to support the cause.

The first 500 students to sign up receive a shirt with “It Ends Now” written on the front and the slogan “I pledge never to commit, condone, or remain silent about relationship or sexual violence” on the back. Under the statement, there is a space for students to sign their name, pledging to stand against sexual and domestic violence.

The event has generated overwhelming support in previous years and informs incoming students about how to handle situations of sexual violence that may arise in the college environment.

“It’s the second thing that follows orientation for freshmen students,” said Patrick Benner, associate dean for Richmond College. “We want to show students how serious we take the issue of sexual and domestic violence in this community.”

This year another event will be added to the program, the “It Ends Now Teach In.” "Teach In" is an open discussion that will be held on Friday, Sept. 4, in the International Center Commons from 1:30 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.

Created by Benner and Tracy Cassalia, a chairwoman on the Healthy Relationships Committee, the event is an effort to help students relate to faculty and staff on the topics of sexual and domestic violence. “Teach In” will feature several different speakers from various disciplines to talk about the issue of sexual and domestic violence and relate it to their specific field of work.

“The purpose of the event is to have healthy relationships and healthy sexuality among our students on campus,” Cassalia said. “We want to get faculty involved and have different people from different disciplines across campus to come and talk about the same thing.”

The “It Ends Now” campaign is showing no signs of slowing down this year and continues to show immense support for the cause by both students and faculty. 

Contact Collegian reporter Matt Davison at matt.davison@richmond.edu.