#ElonEmpowers Social Norms Campaign

Elon Empowers is a social media campaign hosted through the GLC’s Instagram to prevent sexual violence through giving students tangible ways to make Elon a safer place for everyone. The campaign will take place on Instagram throughout the month of October, both on the GLC’s Instagram page and on the accounts of our 20+ campus partners.

Elon senior, Angela Myers’ Lumen research on the rhetoric of sexual violence prevention, Myers discovered many students believed sexual violence wasn’t something they could prevent and students didn’t have the rhetorical tools needed to address this issue in their lives. Inspired by these research findings, she paired up with the GLC to create Elon Empowers.

The GLC partners across campus to support, advocate and educate the Elon community around gender and LGBTQIA identities. Their goal is to create an inclusive campus and in the age of COVID, that includes creating connections while social distancing.

The campaign is divided up into four themed weeks:

  • Week one promotes the idea that prevention is possible
  • Week two gives small, tangible steps students can take in their everyday lives to prevent sexual violence
  • Week three discusses effective communication strategies around the issue
  • Week four highlights the campaign’s partner organizations and ways students can get involved further with sexual violence prevention at Elon

The campaign hopes to reframe how students think about sexual violence. Elon Empowers is an important step towards how the GLC and the larger Elon community can reimagine prevention work on and off campus.

Check out @elonglc on Instagram for more about this campaign!

Violence Prevention

The Gender & LGBTQIA Center and Title IX Office collaborate closely with campus and community partners to create messaging and programming towards the prevention of gender-based violence, including sexual and relationship violence, harassment and stalking. Their prevention efforts include:

  • Haven online education program required for all new students
  • HealthEU skits at New Student Orientation with small-group discussion facilitated by Orientation Leaders
  • Required training for RA’s, Orientation Head Staff and Leaders, Greek House Captains and other key student leadership roles on bystander intervention skills, best practices for consent supporting survivors and campus resources for support, advocacy and reporting
  • Peer education workshops for Elon 101 classes, athletic teams, Greek organizations, residence hall floors and various other student cohorts on topics such as healthy relationships, consent, bystander intervention and supporting survivors
  • Workshops from professional staff about gender roles, pop culture and rape culture
  • Supporting Survivors Week events each semester

For more information prevention efforts, check out the Gender and LGBTQIA Center website

To get involved, please contact  AK Krauss, Assistant Director for Violence Response at akrauss3@elon.edu or Becca Bishopric Patterson, Associate Director for the Gender & LGBTQIA Center at bbishopric@elon.edu or visit the GLC website homepage.