Undergraduate Student Government launches affirmative consent campaign

The USC Undergraduate Student Government, in partnership with departments and student organizations across USC, has launched its Get ConSCent campaign, a campus-wide effort to activate students to share their support of affirmative consent between intimate partners.

The campaign, using the hashtag #GetConSCent, also serves to educate stakeholders on bystander intervention and USC resources based around support, safety and reporting.

In mid-October, USC released the results of the 2019 Campus Climate Survey on Sexual Assault and Misconduct, which showed a rise in women experiencing sexual assaults on campus. USG Sen. Haley Garland, serving as the undergraduate student representative on the USC AAU Task Force, saw these results and sought to launch a campaign to raise awareness about sexual harassment and educate students about the resources available to them.

Get ConSCent is going live the same week of Saturday’s USC-UCLA football game.

We’re looking to create a culture at USC that promotes healthy consent and being a prosocial bystander.

Haley Garland

“Launching the campaign ahead of Conquest was a deliberate choice,” Garland said. A 2018 survey from professors at Texas A&M University, University of Technology Sydney and Montana State University found a 41% increase in acts of sexual assault and misconduct at pre-athletic event activities, such as tailgating.

“We’re looking to create a culture at USC that promotes healthy consent and being a prosocial bystander,” Garland said. “We are hoping that this campaign will encourage students to be more aware and spotlight resources to provide support to students if these unfortunate instances happen.”

The campaign, which is retimed with the USG Communications Branch, involves a number of USC departments and student organizations across campus to help get the word out to students.

“USG is always stronger when partnering with our community, whether that’s students, staff, faculty or anyone across campus,” said USG Senior Director of Communications Truman Fritz. Get ConSCent involves the following partners:

• Relationship and Sexual Violence Prevention and Services (RSVP) in USC Student Health.
• Trojan Pride Committee.
• Student Assembly for Gender Empowerment (SAGE).
• Queer and Ally Student Assembly (QuASA).
• Student Service Assembly (SSA).
• Political Student Assembly (PSA).
• Panhellenic Council (PHC).
• Interfraternity Council (IFC).

Running on digital channels for the week, the campaign will also be visible on campus as volunteers from USG and RSVP table on Trousdale Parkway from 1-4 p.m. Wednesday through Friday. RSVP also plans to host a game-day tailgate.

USG encourages students and organizations to reach out if interested in being involved in the long-term campaign, whether through digital reposting or active volunteering, which it intends to continue into the spring semester and beyond.