The Five College Clothesline Project was one of the main events of the week. The project gave survivors of sexual assault and their friends and relatives a chance to voice their experiences by creating T-shirts.
"It's supposed to be an empowering process for everyone so we all know we're speaking out, we're hearing and we're healing," said PA Michelle Stowers '05.
Assistant Director of Health Education Gretchen Krull explained how making a T-shirt to express one's experiences aids in the healing process.
"The elements that are important for healing are, one, for people to feel that they can tell their story and, two, to raise awareness so that people will believe you," Krull said. "It takes a lot for survivors to get to the point where they can make the shirt as a public statement."
Stowers added that the T-shirts help build awareness of the prevalence and the proximity of sexual assault.
"You walk by a T-shirt and you don't know who made it, but you know it could be anyone close to you," Stowers said. "It hits closer to hoßme."
Another project dedicated to raising awareness of sexual violence was the line of purple ribbons outside the Campus Center. Each ribbon was hung on the line by a College student who was a victim of sexual violence or the friend of a victim.
"I think [the Purple Ribbon Project] is a really valuable way for people to recognize the prevalence of sexual assault on the Amherst campus," said PA Cricket Fisher '05. "And it's a way for friends to show their support [and] for allies to act out."
There was also a speak-out yesterday on Memorial Hill, where people could share personal stories, questions, poetry and song. The speak-out included the lighting of luminaries.
"It's an opportunity to speak," Krull said. "It's somber, it's meant to be healing."
The PAs also tabled in Keefe Campus Center and Valentine Dining Hall to provide information and resources. While tabling the PAs rang a bell every 90 seconds, symbolizing that once every 90 seconds a woman is raped in the United States.
The PAs' intention for this awareness week was to communicate to the College that sexual assault is closer to home than many might think. "This is something that happens on college campuses. It's not something that's distant," Krull said.
The PAs are available as a resource for anyone who has experienced sexual assault. They also provide support for people with any kind of questions or experiences to share,
"We're a group of students who are trained to listen and support for anything-from the happy to the sad to the traumatic," Stowers said.