Chattanooga State Safety

Students and faculty at Chattanooga State have launched a new campaign called "Know your IX." It’s a grassroots effort by students that extensively promotes safety throughout the school year.

Sandy Rutter, Dean of Student Life and Judicial Affairs at Chattanooga State said, "It’s our responsibility to make sure that they are safe." Chattanooga State student government members and faculty want everyone on campus to know what their rights are and "Know your IX" is the slogan they are using. Emily McElroy, Chattanooga State Student Government President said, "We did climate surveys at the beginning to see if people knew what title IX was, and what their rights were, and most people didn’t. I think we had a 10-percent population of students that actually knew what their rights were." With 1 in every 5 young women subjected to sexual violence, Rutter says that it’s important for students to know what their rights are. Rutter said, "It’s a right to an education free from sexual harrassment, free from assault and that includes sexual violence. It also includes stalking which is sexual violence. It includes sexual harrassment and anything that gets in the way of our students and their education."
   
School representatives are letting students know how to report these incidences and how to help each other be good bystanders. McElroy said, "We want to really focus on bystander training, so that if you have a friend or family member that you think have had something happen to them, that you know the steps to take and that you know who they can talk to and the proper processes." Rutter says that it’s vital that students understand because they are part of the solution. Rutter said, "It is up to them to help us stop sexual violence on campus and in our community."

The campus will offer several training sessions for students throughout the school year. For more information on the "Know Your IX" campaign visit: www.chattanoogastate.edu/knowyourix .