ELYSE GRIECO
Assistant Life & Arts Editor
This past Wednesday, STEPS (Students Teaching Equals Positive Sexuality) held their annual spring equality carnival.
Every year, the club dedicates their carnival to a different organization in hopes to raise awareness for that cause.
This semester, STEPS decided to pick RAINN, the Rape Abuse & Incest National
Network.
RAINN is the United State’s largest anti-sexual violence organization. It is their mission to help spread the word about sexual assault to help reduce the amount of instances that happen every day.
Selena Ragland, a junior biology major, is a member of STEPS.
She agreed that it is crucial to hold these types of functions to help enlighten campus about the issue at hand.
“I think it’s important that we have events like this to really raise awareness and spread awareness of the resources that are there. A lot of people don’t even know about local resources, nonetheless large ones that are nationwide,” she said. “I think in order to make change happen, we have to educate first and that’s really what STEPS is about.”
The club decided to incorporate carnival elements to help attract more people and make it as fun as possible.
The event included musical performances, a magic show, face painting and games that helped teach about consent.
One game, called “The Drunk Relay,” showed how to effectively put on a condom in 13 steps while wearing drunk goggles and completing other tasks.
This game helped demonstrate how uncoordinated someone under the influence is and how it can lead to problems with safe sex.
There was also an ice cream stand providing cold treats for the hot weather and free t-shirts for the first people who came to support the cause.
Nicole Moy, a senior applied music major, is the president of Dynamic Intonation, an a capella group on campus.
She was contacted by STEPS and asked if the group would perform at the carnival.
“I think it’s really important that there are a lot of events on campus that are easy to integrate campus life with. I feel like it’s kind of hard sometimes,” Moy said. “I think this event is awesome. It’s right in the springtime, everyone is outside and people can hear the music and it makes them want to come. This is a great cause and it’s what we love to do so it’s awesome to come sing and be able to support it.”
If you or someone close to you has experienced sexual assault, do not be afraid to speak up and seek help.
For more information about STEPS or RAINN, please visit their websites, www. fredsteps.com and www.rainn.org.