Gender Equity Trainings, Programs, and Events

The Gender Equity Center Ambassador program is a way for staff and faculty to take on a leadership role in their own units, to model the “It’s On Us” message, and to be a bridge to the Gender Equity Center for students. Each person who is interested in becoming an Ambassador will attend a two-hour training to learn practical skills on how they can be a resource to a survivor of power-based interpersonal violence, how to help them in times of crisis, what to say, and how to connect them with the Gender Equity Center. Additionally, ambassadors will become a source of information for their coworkers, learn practical techniques on how to address victim-blaming behavior, and learn bystander intervention skills.

By having a Gender Equity Ambassador in your department or unity, faculty and staff can expand their knowledge about the Gender Equity Center, connect more students to the resources, and support students on a greater level. Everyone who completes the training will also receive "It's On Us Penn State" swag, an Ambassador sticker, and more!

Register for an upcoming training today using the link here! Note, that attendance is limited to 40 attendees per session, and registration is required to participate.

Spring 2024 Ambassador Trainings

• Wednesday, January 31, 2024, 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. - 134 HUB
• Thursday, February 29, 2024, 1:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m. - 134 HUB
• Tuesday, April 2, 2024, 9:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m. - Zoom

The Clothesline Project is a national campaign started in 1990 to address the issue of interpersonal violence. During the public display, a clothesline is hung with shirts created by survivors of violence or in honor of someone who has experienced violence.

The Gender Equity Center displays the Clothesline Project annually. Penn State faculty, staff, or students interested in organizing a display can contact the center to discuss borrowing shirts.

Additionally, in Fall 2020, the Gender Equity Center started the Virtual Clothesline Project initiative to foster engagement during the COVID-19 educational environment.

Greeks CARE is a six week sexual assault prevention program offered to members of fraternities and sororities at Penn State. Participating organizations send representatives to weekly hour-long sessions, which focus on topics including supporting survivors, alcohol and consent, bystander intervention, and more.

Greeks CARE, in collaboration with the Office of Fraternity and Sorority Life, offers fraternity and sorority members an opportunity to examine the role they play in preventing sexual assault and creating a culture of support for survivors. The program is facilitated by Gender Equity Center staff and trained fraternity and sorority members.

Honoring Survival: Transforming the Spirit is an annual event designed to honor the strength and resiliency of survivors of sexual, emotional, and physical violence and those who support them in their healing process. Survivors and those who support them share their stories through poetry, storytelling, and music.

It's On Us is a peer education program and ongoing initiative spearheaded by the Gender Equity Center in collaboration with other Student Affairs offices, including the Center for Sexual and Gender Diversity, Health Promotion and Wellness, and the Paul Robeson Cultural Center. “It's On Us” is more than a rallying cry, it is a promise and a commitment from Penn State community members to the victim survivors in our community that we accept the charge that It is On Us to eliminate sexual violence at Penn State. It is on all of us, not just victim survivors, to advocate for change and learn how to make a difference.

The It's On Us workshops are interactive and engaging peer lead sessions which can be provided upon request. They promote sexual violence prevention and increase support for victim survivors by focusing on innovative intersectional programming to eliminate all forms of oppression which contribute to the perpetration and continuation of sexual and gender-based violence. Additionally, every Spring, Penn State hosts an It's On Us Week of Action to enable Penn Staters to demonstrate their commitment to making Penn state a safer, more inclusive campus, by participating in one of these sessions.

Learn more about the campaign on the It's On Us Website or how you can join the initiative by becoming a peer educator.

Love your Body Week is a collaborative campaign, organized by the Gender Equity Center, Health Promotion and Wellness, and other offices and departments across campus.

Held every fall, this week of programming is inspired by Love Your Body Day, organized by the National Organization for Women (N.O.W.), and Love Your Body Week, organized by the National Eating Disorders Association (N.E.D.A.).

Every day, in so many ways, the beauty industry and the media tell everyone, but especially women and girls, that being admired, envied, and desired based on their looks is a primary function of their worth and value. The Love Your Body Week campaign challenges the message that a person's value is best measured through their ability to embody current beauty standards. Events focus on body positivity, body neutrality, eating disorder prevention, and more.

The Installation originated at the University of Arkansas. In 2013, Jen Brockman and Dr. Mary Wyandt-Hiebert created the project, inspired by Dr. Mary Simmerling's poem, What I Was Wearing. The first "What Were You Wearing?" Survivor Art Installation was then displayed in April 2014 at the University of Arkansas.

The Gender Equity Center hosted the first installment of the What Were You Wearing Exhibit at University Park in April 2018 as part of SVAP week and it spread to the other Penn State campuses hosting their own versions of the What Were You Wearing Installation.

Additionally, in Spring 2021, the Gender Equity Center started the Virtual "What Were You Wearing?" initiative to foster engagement during the COVID-19 educational environment.