Campus Violence Topic of Key Issues Forum April 27

Almost half of college students have experienced abuse in a relationship, according to a 2008 study. Abuse can range from cyber- stalking to beatings and rape.

On April 27, Wesleyan University, The Hartford Courant and FOX CT will present a Key Issues Forum titled “The Person You Think You Know: Signs and Solutions of Campus Violence” at 6 p.m. in Beckham Hall. The forum will feature experts who will discuss relationship violence on campuses, including how to recognize danger signs and where to get help.

The panelists are:
Claire Potter, professor of American studies, professor of history, whose research interest includes the study of violence against women.

Jaclyn Friedman ’93, who is a performer and co-editor of “Yes Means Yes! Visions of Female Sexual Power and a World Without Rape.”

Connie J. Kirkland, director of sexual assault services at George Mason University in Virginia and a national expert on campus stalking.

Janet Peckinpaugh, a 30-year broadcast journalist with her own media marketing firm who has been a victim of stalking and domestic violence.

Laurie Perez, reporter, FOX CT will moderate the event.

“Violence  — stalking, intimate partner violence, sexual assault and hazing –among young people is a problem in the United States, and to that extent, we have to assume that it is a campus problem to some degree,” Potter says. ” In addition, according to the Department of Justice, women in particular are most likely to be the object of violence between the ages of 16 and 24; hence, you might even argue that we on college campuses are at the epicenter of something we could affect and intervene in.  What seems to me most relevant, however, is that administrators and faculty always want to be in the position of anticipating challenges proactively, rather than responding to incidents of violence on campus and assessing, after the fact, what we might have done to help someone who has already been harmed.”

The event is co-sponsored by the Hartford Courant and FOX CT, and presented in partnership with Wesleyan University. It is free and open to the public. Anyone interested in attending is encouraged to register by e-mail at corpaffairs@courant.com or by calling 860-241-3614.