Handwritten signs and little red flags marked the beginning of the fourth annual Red Flag Campaign event on campus. On Oct. 25 from 3-5 p.m., students gathered behind Lankford Student Union in a space designated as the “Free Speech Zone” on campus to listen to speakers, visit tables set up by student organizations and make their own posters for the campaign.
The event was promoted using the official posters, identifiable by a person holding a red flag with a personal statement on it over his or her mouth to symbolize speaking up.
“The overall concept of the Red Flag Campaign is intimate partner violence, and there’s so much that all goes under that so we are able to hit different themes every year,” said LaNeka Brown, senior and intern at the Student Health & Wellness Center.
She continued, “This year’s theme was ‘If you see something, say something’ because the big problem on college campuses, as far as sexual misconduct goes, is that a lot of people are afraid to say something, so this year we focused on promoting the resources on campus. Too many people don’t know about RAVE or Madeline’s House. A lot of organizations on campus work with Madeline’s House, but people don’t see what goes on behind the scenes.”
This event opened with student speakers who chose to share information and personal testimonies about the subjects highlighted by the Red Flag Campaign, including sexual and dating violence, challenges faced by the LGBT community and abusive relationships.
Social Work majors also participated by using a group project as an opportunity to increase awareness for issues they studied in their classes.
“While I was planning this campaign, it was hard to find a lot of students who would speak about this subject because it is touchy and many of them have dealt with it or have seen it,” said Brown.
She continued, “They don’t really want to say anything about it because they don’t want to be judged. But the people who did speak are very brave because this is a scary thing, especially in a large group of strangers. It’s very inspiring that they came out to speak.”
Devon Johnson, a member of the RAVE committee and participant of the Red Flag Campaign, added, “I liked the speakers because it was very personal, but I think my favorite part was actually hearing from Katie Klipp who talked about violence within the LGBT community because that’s different. You don’t hear about that very often, and it was great that she spoke to us about that.”
The presentations and introductions were followed by an annual “stroll” around campus. Led by Brown who was holding a “Can You Spot a Red Flag?” sign, participants carried red flags, as well as posters labeled with personal statements, and marched through the campus to spread awareness about the campaign’s issues.
Even though the event was hosted and sponsored by the Student Health & Wellness Center, other organizations participated by setting up tables and offering information to students. Alpha Phi Omega, Peer Health Educators and the Student Health & Wellness Center were in attendance to present information. In addition to these organizations, RAVE had students present to hand out ribbons and bracelets and request that students sign a pledge to uphold the values of the Red Flag Campaign on Longwood’s campus.
“Our overall message is, ‘if you see something, say something,’”said Sasha Johnson, wellness coordinator. “It is bystander intervention that is the best practice in violence prevention, but also in other types of situations. We want to empower students, faculty, staff, community members, friends and loved ones with the skills they need so they can know what to say. Oftentimes, people want to say something, but they don’t know what exactly to say or that it’s too dangerous. So we try to encourage people to never put themselves in harm and just call the police from far away. Or if it’s not that kind of situation and you notice something, don’t be afraid to say something.
The Red Flag Campaign promotes awareness of and the need to speak up about intimate partner violence.
