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Kayla Turner did not attend Stand With Survivors SU’s initial protest in September. She first went to an SWSSU event in October at the Hall of Languages.

“After coming, I decided I needed to stay for a while,” she said.

Turner, SWSSU’s new president, addressed the organization’s goals for the new semester and its latest interactions with Syracuse University.

“I think the biggest thing for the progress of the organization is to continue to have a healing space within this campus,” Turner said. “I think that’s what Stand With Survivors should be and is going to be.”

SWSSU, an organization that advocates against sexual assault and rape culture on SU’s campus, is entering its second semester of existence.

Carla Guariglia led the organization during the fall 2021 semester. During the beginning of the fall semester, Nancy Linehan was also a co-president but departed the organization in early November 2021. Now, Guariglia is going abroad.

Guariglia said she’ll still be involved in the organization, and Turner was democratically chosen for the organization’s presidency.

SWSSU has weekly meetings on Tuesdays with Rob Hradsky, the vice president for the student experience and dean of students, and Cerri Banks, the vice president for student success.

“They’ve been super opening and welcome,” Turner said about Banks and Hradsky.

In an email statement to The Daily Orange, Hradsky said the focus of the meetings has been on understanding Title IX regulations, community resources and examining the federal regulations. SWSSU wants to pursue change at the federal level because there is only so much that SU can do at the collegiate level, Turner said.

“We are supportive of SWSSU’s desire to enhance prevention and supportive resources and clarify processes,” Hradsky said via email.

Members of SWSSU have also joined some on-campus committees involving sexual assault prevention such as the Chancellor’s Task Force on Sexual and Relationship Violence. Some SWSSU members have been working with the Sexual and Relationship Violence Survey subcommittee. SWSSU members have also helped with reviewing other university resources, including the sexual and relationship violence posters located in all SU bathrooms, Hradsky said in the email.

“A few of our members are on the (Chancellor’s Task Force on Sexual and Relationship Violence) for this year, which I’m really excited about because I feel like that’s how we’re going to see true progress happen,” Turner said.

SWSSU has also held weekly meetings of their own, with around eight members consistently attending and others sporadically joining.

Turner said she had not reported her own case to the university. She said she was comfortable with her silence at first, believing it was protecting her. But Turner received antagonistic text messages from unknown numbers about her case that she had not reported.

When she joined SWSSU, she said felt she was getting her voice back.

“I finally felt like I was stepping back into my own power,” Turner said.

This semester, SWSSU is planning to organize events such as safe space parties, where attendees can have fun in a safe and comfortable environment, Turner said. The organization is also planning on creating events specifically to support survivors of color for Black History Month.

The organization is also looking to work with similar organizations at nearby colleges and universities for survivors to be seen and heard, Turner said.

SWSSU has previously had some contention with other groups on campus.

While protesting outside the Phi Kappa Psi house in November, another event, “Fries with the Chi’s,” was occurring two houses down the road at the Theta Chi chapter house. The event was raising money for Vera House, an organization that works to end sexual assault and violence in Syracuse.

Protesters with SWSSU chanted, “F*ck your fries, f*ck Phi Psi.”

“We did have a long talk about that afterwards because we want to create an environment at our protests where everyone feels heard and seen and welcomed,” Turner said. “We did hold ourselves accountable.”

Turner also said that some people at the Theta Chi event were called rape apologists for not joining SWSSU’s protest. To Turner, that response didn’t make sense.

“I want everyone in the organization to feel welcomed,” she said.

Turner said the organization has been a place where everyone’s voices and ideas are heard.

“It’s a bright spot to have, especially on this campus where rape culture is super rampant, to just have this community of people who really are committed to making a change,” she said.

Published on February 9, 2022 at 11:54 pm

Contact Kyle: [email protected] | @Kyle_Chouinard