Photos: Color the Commons Held at MTSU to Raise Awareness and Empower Survivors

Photos and story by John Lane / Contributing Writer and Photographer

On Thursday, Middle Tennessee State University’s June Anderson Center For Women And Nontraditional Students held an event in the Student Union commons to kickoff Sexual Assault Awareness Month.

This event had multiple aims including: raising awareness for the existence of Sexual Assault Awareness Month, raising awareness of sexual assault on campus and around the world, and providing an outlet for survivors of sexual assault to tell their stories and empower others.

Activities included covering the Student Union commons sidewalks with chalk art featuring empowering pictures and quotes, designing t-shirts emblazoned with the words of survivors or witnesses for the Clothesline Project and giving away Sexual Assault Awareness resource booklets.

“There’s a stigma about reporting sexual violence that you’ve experienced or witnessed, and we wanted to encourage people to speak out,” said sophomore Student Government Association senators Safa Khan and Emaa Elrayah when asked about their chalk art piece.

“It’s important to push people to say something about what’s happening and to see what people who’ve suffered in the past have gone through,” said Nicolas Morgan, a volunteer for the Clothesline Project.