The
Sexual Violence Prevention Association (SVPA) recently launched our first cohort of Campus Chapter Fellows. The fellowship was granted to Vanessa Basso Fiuza of Columbia University and Mehreen Kamal of Boston University who are both remarkably gifted, passionate, and accomplished individuals.
SVPA Campus Chapters are student groups that are founded and run by student survivors. They prevent sexual violence on their campus through events, student organizing, administration accountability, and advocating for legislation. SVPA Chapters host trainings and events covering topics such as bystander intervention, the red zone, and Title IX. They also host speak-outs on social media and in person. Speakouts empower survivors to share their stories of experiencing sexual violence on campus. The SVPA Chapters also encourage campus administration to improve practices, policies, and resources for preventing sexual violence.
The 2023 Fellowship marks the first expansion of the SVPA’s Campus Chapter program which began with the University of Arkansas (UArk) chapter in January of 2023. The Campus Chapter program and the first chapter were founded by Reid Pinckard, a passionate activist and student survivor. Pinckard said, “Student and youth mobilization is crucial for systemic change. As these chapters grow, I hope to see spaces created where survivors can flourish, and rates of sexual violence on university campuses decrease.”
SVPA UArk has had several achievements since its inception in January of 2023. It was designated a Clinton Global Initiative. Pinckard represented the group at the Clinton Global Initiative University Annual Meeting and presented to fellow attendees. SVPA UArk received the Registered Student Organization Program of the Year Award from the University of Arkansas's Office of Student Outreach Organization and Involvement Experience (S.O.O.I.E). The chapter’s impact has been recognized in several news articles including the university newspaper, campus broadcast network, and local news stations.
The fellows serve as the main contact for SVPA initiatives and organizing on their university campuses. During the fellowship, they will be creating their campus chapter by organizing a coalition of student survivors. The chapters equip youth organizers across the country with the tools to further the SVPA’s mission by systematically preventing sexual violence on campuses through educational initiatives, student organizing, and legislative advocacy.
Following the successes of UArk SVPA, the new chapters, headed by Vanessa Basso Fiuza and Mehreen Kamal will expand our efforts, impacting over 80,000 students. The Campus Fellows are key changemakers in the Sexual Violence Prevention’s initiative to promote survivor-led sexual violence prevention on campuses across the US.
Your
continued support of our campus advocacy empowers student survivors to prevent sexual violence across the country.
