A movement called “Party With Consent” proposes a solution that effectively addresses this problem at Colby College. Started last year by Jonathan Kalin, the organization “Party With Consent” implements resourceful marketing to uniquely deal with the issue of harassment and sexual assault. The entire movement is based on the idea that “college students are generally smart enough to know not to sexually assault someone,” but in certain party situations, they may have a lapse in judgment. Yet, as Kalin explains, “That does not mean partying is a bad thing — a party is essentially a celebration. However, sometimes parties enable good people to act out of character.”

After a sexual harassment case at Colby College, Party With Consent obtained funding from the Office of Campus Life and Student Government Association to buy tank tops with their tagline, “Party With Consent.” The goal of the movement was to get as many students to wear their tank tops during Colby’s Spring Fling. Eventually, because of their success, the school increased funding, enabling the organization to purchase plastic cups, sunglasses, stickers and other products all with the same tagline.

Whereas discussions and talks on sexual assault generally only reached a specific group of people, Party With Consent’s distribution of trendy items was able to penetrate the majority of the college campus. Furthermore, the ubiquitous nature of the tagline often acted as a constant reminder to students of the issue of sexual assault and consent, making these items especially useful at parties.

The benefits of Party with Consent items do not stop there.  The beauty of the movement is that it creates discussion. Friends, acquaintances and colleagues of someone with a Party With Consent item can, and often do, inquire about what it means, further generating dialogue and ultimately spreading awareness on the issue of sexual assault. Furthermore, the movement eventually threw an actual party with consent called “Kegs for Konsent,” one of the more well-attended events of the year, again raising awareness on the issue of sexual assault.

Personally, these marketing aspects are what I find the most impressive about the Party with Consent movement. A lot of well-intentioned organizations have very important things to say (whether it is on the issue of sexual assault, animal rights, etc.) but often ineffectively reaches out to the populace. Similar to the KONY 2012 movement, Party with Consent takes an important message and creatively markets it so that the general population — and especially the people who need to hear it the most — can appreciate and support it.

To join the movement, click here, or buy a tank here.

The post “Party With Consent:” A Movement to End Sexual Assault appeared first on NextGen Journal.

Although, Jeremy Lin would have received significant media attention regardless of being Asian-American, the degree of attention he is currently receiving is unusually astronomical. For instance, as I am writing this article, there are currently six headline stories on ESPN NBA about Linning. Yesterday, my professor, who has never followed basketball in his life, asked the class what Linsanity means. Even Barack Obama, the President of the United States, has admitted to following Lin’s rise to stardom. While the extra attention may be exactly what Lin needs to kickstart his career, it may also reinforce existing racial stereotypes.

Lin’s story is the classic underdog tale: Despite leading his high school to a state championship, he received no scholarship offers from any Division I colleges. He graduated from a university which produced only four NBA players and entered the NBA summer league undrafted. He was cut from two teams and somehow ended up playing with the Knicks with no clear guarantee on his contract.

The problem lies in the fact that Lin’s story in the NBA is not only an underdog story- Lin’s stardom has been linked directly to the perceived dismantlement of racial norms of Asians in American society. In most cases, this is great, but because Lin is continuously judged first as an Asian-American NBA player, people directly attribute Lin’s ethnicity as a reason why he is an underdog.

The truth of the matter is that race has nothing to do with basketball, and Lin should only be praised for his skills on the court, not for the color of his skin. Race does not dictate talent.

For instance, a seven foot, 250-pound basketball player is physically talented at basketball not because of a particular race but because he is seven feet tall and 250 pounds. Similarly, although there is a lower percentage of Asian-Americans with a tall physique, Lin is not physically disadvantaged because he is Asian; rather, he is actually talented considering that he is 6-foot 3-inches and 200 pounds—a physique that is apparent in other star point guards. Despite this very basic concept, people still directly attribute the low percentage of Asian-Americans in the NBA to “Asian-Americans are not good at basketball.”

That is why the story of Lin is so popular and why we did not see more attention given to Ben Wallace, a player who, like Lin, was also undrafted but now is considered a possible future Hall of Famer. People somewhat irrationally expect Lin, the Asian-American underdog, to lose, and when he wins, they view it as miraculous. Therefore, the extra attention the media gives Lin is not necessarily good, because it only confirms that Lin’s case is unique and thus acknowledges the fallacy of associating race with basketball talent. With each new headline, Lin’s story becomes more of a tale of an anomaly and less of a testament to his skills. At this point in time, given Lin’s talents, there should not be this many stories about him because he should be expected to win.

Thus, in the past two weeks, I have honestly tried to not support Lin in fear of magnifying the stereotypes on Asians. However, the more I desperately tried to resist the Linsanity, the more I found myself closely watching every Knicks’ game. I am now a proud fan of Lin, not because he is Asian American like myself, but rather because he is someone who, despite all obstacles, achieved his American dream through perseverance and sheer willpower.

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