ESU Peer Educators Present Sexual Assault Awareness Programming to Board of Governors

PHOTO: Peer educators from East Stroudsburg University present to the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (PASSHE) Board of Governors about their sexual assault awareness month programming during the Board of Governors meeting on April 6 in Harrisburg. From left: Guido Pichini, chairman, PASSHE Board of Governors, Victoria Sanders, D.Ed., associate vice chancellor, chief compliance officer, Title IX executive vice chancellor for PASSHE; Doreen Tobin, D.Ed.; Samantha Walz, a freshman peer educator, undeclared major from Reeders, Pa.; Bridget Marley, a senior public health major from Havertown, Pa.; Zaria Cyriaque, a sophomore hotel, restaurant and tourism management major from Somerville, N.J.; Annie Frame, a senior public health major from Waynesboro, Pa.; ESU President Marcia G. Welsh, Ph.D.; Laura Suits, a graduate student studying public health from New Paltz, N.Y.; Meleena Olaniyan, a sophomore athletic training major from Germantown, Pa.; Alyson Patascher, coordinator of health education and AToD prevention at ESU; and PASSHE Chancellor Frank T. Brogan.

It’s hard to grasp the importance of what the peer educators at East Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania do unless you see them in action.

After the peer educators made such an impression on Doreen Tobin, D.Ed., ESU vice president of student affairs, and Victoria Sanders, D.Ed., associate vice chancellor, chief compliance officer, and executive vice chancellor of the executive office at the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (PASSHE), they wanted to make sure these students were heard by PASSHE’s Board of Governors, a group that establishes broad educational, fiscal and personnel policies and oversees the efficient management of the State System.

On Thursday, April 7, in conjunction with sexual assault awareness month, six of ESU’s peer educators traveled to Harrisburg with Alyson Patascher, coordinator of health education and AToD (Alcohol, Tobacco and Other Drugs) Prevention, where they gave a presentation to the Board of Governors about sexual violence and how they help their peers try to prevent it or have the strength to report it and deal with some of the outcomes if a situation arises.

“A big part of the work that is done by our peer educators helps to fulfill the University’s role relative to the work that is required by Title IX legislation that has been reinterpreted in the violence against women act,” said Dr. Tobin. “These students fulfill that role significantly through their work to educate their peers about domestic and relationship violence and assault. In doing so, they have made great strides in changing the culture of our campus relative to safety and awareness on these and other topics.”

“It’s not only just about being recognized by the Board of Governors,” said peer educator Annie Frame, a senior majoring in public health from Waynesboro, Pa. “It’s important to know that hopefully we are making a difference and what we do will continue to help others in the years to come.”

Patascher is certain ESU’s peer educators are making strides on campus. Not only have number of peer educators increased from five to 20 since January 2012, but she frequently gets positive feedback from students. She adds that ESU’s peer educators are passionate about the work they do, something that’s evident when you see them at work or engage them in a conversation about what they do. Some of them, such as Frame, spends 20 plus hours a week working as a peer educator. Others take it on as their internship. There are even a few who volunteer.

Whether it’s a compliment from a student who attended a program, follow-up questions after an event on campus, or a student telling her a story about how they’ve put some of the peer educators’ tactics to use, Patascher knows the influence her peer educators are having. The educational scenarios they do – which include alcohol awareness – are invaluable, the Potty Break Newsletter they put out has grown in popularity, and the far-too-real statistics they pass along regarding sexual assaults on college campuses has admittedly opened students’ eyes.

“We get feedback all the time,” Patascher said. “During our programs, we talk about being an active bystander. I just had a student raise their hand and say, ‘Last weekend I was on Main Street and saw a student sitting there visibly intoxicated, and I went to him and called the last number on his phone and asked his friend to pick him up. And this student stayed until his ride came.’ Another student said he was walking to Walmart when he saw a guy getting a little physical with his girlfriend and he said, ‘Hey, that’s not cool. Take your hands off her.’”

“We have been doing follow-ups and a lot of students are saying they think about it the training we provide a lot more,” Patascher said. “We want everyone to take care of one another. Students really buy into that.”

Patascher added that many of these attitudinal changes are based on the effectiveness of the peer educators. “At first, students are more reserved and don’t want to open up and talk about these sensitive topics,” said Bridget Marley, a senior from Havertown, Pa., majoring in public health. “The more we probe them and open the discussion, the more talkative they are. When we go through what-if scenarios, it’s something they can relate to, and they have that ah-ha moment, and they know it’s something that happens all the time.

“The work that we do as peer educators is extremely valuable because students, I have found, don’t get it anywhere else, really. We are the people who hone it in and make it relatable. After presentations, they come up to us in the hallway or Dansbury Commons and ask another question. It’s important to let them know they have a voice and any way I can help them have that voice, I’m willing to. It’s important to break down the barrier of communication.”

“These students are amazing,” Patascher said. “It’s really, really hard to get up in front of your peers and talk about the dangers associated with things that the general population likes to do. And when it comes to sexual violence, the university is really supportive of initiatives to avoid or handle these situations. I appreciate everything these students do every day because the expectations are really high on them. What I take a tremendous amount of pride in is that our peer educators always land jobs after graduation because they have this really high skill set.”

Both Tobin and Sanders got that vibe right away. Patascher said when Dr. Sanders was on campus last semester reviewing safety and accountability measures, she told Dr. Tobin how impressed she was after meeting with some of the peer educators. And in turn, Tobin reached out to Patascher about having the peer educators be featured in the Student Spotlight at the Board of Governors meeting.

“These students are putting in a great deal of time and effort to an extremely important cause,” Tobin said. “I know they are making a difference, and they deserve to be recognized and to tell their stories.”

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