This weekend, Illinois alumni, students and staff will gather to celebrate 20 years of the First Year Campus Acquaintance Rape Education (FYCARE) Program, a nationally renowned mandatory sexual assault prevention workshop for first-year students.
A program of the Women’s Resources Center, the Campus Acquaintance Rape Education program began as a series of student-led workshops to address the prevalence of sexual assault on college campuses. In fall 1996, the program became mandatory for first-year students (becoming First Year CARE or FYCARE), and it is now one of the oldest mandatory sexual assault prevention programs of its kind in the country.
“The people who created and worked for the FYCARE program are an extraordinary group of individuals, doing incredible work, both then and now,” said Molly McLay, assistant director of the Women’s Resources Center and current coordinator of the FYCARE program. “Today, Title IX is a major national news issue, and federal and state laws mandate universities to provide the kind of education FYCARE has been offering students for decades. … sexual assault prevention education is one of the things the University of Illinois does best.”
The weekend will commemorate the innovation and success of the program and preview where it’s going in the future. Two events are free and open to the public: a presentation from current staff and students about recent program changes and expansion on Friday, Nov. 11 at 4 p.m. at the Women’s Resources Center (703 S. Wright St., second floor, Champaign); and a panel discussion of alumni facilitators on Monday, Nov. 14 at noon at the same location.
The weekend also will feature an opening reception and “FYCAREaoke” for alumni, students and staff; a breakfast and community service project to help Rape, Advocacy, Counseling, and Education Services; family games on the Quad; and an anniversary dinner banquet on Saturday, Nov. 12, at the I Hotel and Conference Center.
The event is hosted by the Women’s Resources Center in conjunction with the Office of Inclusion and Intercultural Relations, Office of the Dean of Students, Counseling Center, University Housing and the Division of Public Safety. A full schedule of events can be found at http://go.illinois.edu/fycare20years.
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