Club sports teams will now be required to complete Center for Awareness, Response and Education trainings after Associated Student Government partnered with Northwestern Recreation to extend the mandate beyond ASG funded student groups.

CARE trainings, which promote healthy sexuality and fight sexual violence, were mandated for ASG-funded groups in November 2017. During Fall Quarter this year, Sid Ahuja, the ASG vice president for student activities and resources, and Rebecca Lazer, the ASG vice president for health and wellness, spearheaded the initiative to include club sports teams in the training mandate.

“There was a lot of potential for us to extend this mandate to other groups,” Ahuja said. “My thought was, if we could connect with all of these students, we could really support this cause further.”

Ahuja and Lazer chose club sports because they thought it would make a big impact — about 1,400 NU students are on club sports teams, which would increase the trainings’ reach considerably, Ahuja said.

“It was crucial for us to connect with more groups on campus,” Ahuja said. “My initial thought process was that if we can really connect with leaders from those teams, we can support an additional 1,400 people.”

The mandate requires that two members of each team’s executive board complete the training. If the trainings aren’t finished, NU Recreation can deny the teams’ use of facilities.

Ahuja and Lazer reached out to NU Recreation in late November, said Jake Rowland, NU Recreation’s competitive sports and Wildcat Camp coordinator.

Rowland liked the idea, and gave verbal confirmation in Fall Quarter. However, Ahuja and Lazer didn’t receive a written statement from NU Recreation until Jan. 16.

“We hope to train student leaders on supporting survivors, increase awareness of campus resources for support, and address sexual violence in the context of student groups,” the signed statement from Rowland said. “Club sports leadership team is excited to collaborate with Associated Student Government to enforce these trainings and promote a safer culture.”

The written statement from Rowland is important to ensure that the mandate will outlive the careers of the current administrators, ASG President Emily Ash said.

“That commitment is in ASG’s record now,” Ash said. “Regardless of who’s in charge of club sports ten years from now, ideally that helps preserve (the training.).”

Rowland said the training dates aren’t yet available, but Ahuja said they will be mandated starting in Spring Quarter.

Rowland added that he thinks the mandate is a “great collaboration” between the organizations, and that it’s “best to push this out to the clubs to train student leaders on supporting survivors, increase awareness of campus resources for support, and address sexual violence.”

Ash said she hopes in the future the mandate will extend to even more student groups. Club sports was a good place to start because Ahuja and Lazer had administrative support, Ash said, and CARE trainings are something “everyone can learn from.”

“Everyone can take something and bring it back to their community,” Ash said. “Regardless if it’s an ASG funded organization or another organization, there is value in this.”

Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @cam_e_cook

Related Stories:
ASG-funded groups complete CARE training on sexual violence, positive sexuality
ASG passes sexual assault training mandate for student groups
ASG proposes sexual assault training mandate