The Women and Gender Advocacy Center’s new campaign aims to reframe how students think about and discuss interpersonal violence.

Reframe is the new campus-wide campaign working toward educating students on relationship and interpersonal violence and how to talk about it, according to Women and Gender Advocacy Center Director Kathy Sisneros.

The WGAC worked with the President’s Office, the President’s Commission on Women and Gender Equity, Office of Equal Opportunity and the Public Safety and Support Office in order to make the campaign happen.

“The Reframe itself is, ‘how do we reframe the conversation about sexual assault, interpersonal violence and stalking?'” Sisneros said.

The campaign will have it’s soft launch Feb. 13, and will build off the Reframe booklet, created by the WGAC last semester. Sisneros said different events will be held over the semester and each will address different topics, or “Reframes,” in the booklet.

There are 10 Reframes in the booklet, including “Reframe No. 4: Don’t Rape” and “Reframe No. 5: Control isn’t Love.”

“(The goal is) re-centering the conversation a little bit differently,” Sisneros said. “How can we be more thoughtful about how we interact with one another. … How do we reframe our language to create a different culture.”

Sisneros said they created the booklet to give people a more accessible guide on how to engage in thoughtful conversations on these topics.

“The intention isn’t just for students to have the knowledge; we want our faculty and staff to also know how to interact with our students. We want them to know where the resources are,” Sisneros said.

Sophomore environmental health student Mimi Garcia is a part of the student staff at the WGAC and has provided feedback for the campaign since the beginning. Garcia said having all the information available to the campus community makes it easier for people to understand the message.

“It makes it easier for the audience to see, in black and white, what interpersonal violence can look like,” Garcia said. “I personally feel that it can change what someone thinks about victim blaming, relationship violence and consent.”

The booklet will be available online later in the semester, but if students want to see one they should go to the WGAC office, Sisneros said.

Sisneros said a lot of thought went into the campaign, such as having the word “ram” in the title of the campaign and not having the WGAC logo anywhere on the campaign’s informational booklet to show that this campaign is campus-wide.

“Although national campaigns are nice, we thought a CSU-specific one would resonate more with our students and our campus community,” Sisneros said.

Associated Students of Colorado State University Diversity Director Mo Wells said making the campaign CSU-oriented will help engage students.

“By customizing this campaign to the CSU population, we are able to provide local resources and focus on what is most pertinent for the people in the community to know,” Wells said.

Marie Harding, fifth-year sociology student, is a member of the Red Whistle Brigade, a peer education group out of the WGAC. Harding said that having the entire campus involved in this campaign is essential to make students feel supported.

“This campaign allows the entire campus to take a stand against sexual violence and interpersonal violence,” Harding said.

The WGAC is kicking off their campaign with “Reframe No 5: Control isn’t Love” by handing out candy hearts with personalized messages on them associated with the Reframe campaign, according to Sisneros.

Reframe will also be worked into new student orientation in the summer, Sisneros said. Students and departments have also showed interested in creating a Reframe topic specifically for Greek Life, the Rocky Mountain Showdown and Athletics.

“I hope this campaign opens the door for more conversations around sexual assault and relationship violence on the CSU campus,” Wells said. “I hope by providing a clear and fun frame for these topics, students will be more likely to speak up, act out and be there for their peers.”

Collegian City Beat Reporter Sady Swanson can be reached at news@collegian.com or on Twitter @sadyswan.