Nearly one year ago, the Women’s Center, and Shippensburg University as a whole, adopted the NO MORE campaign to take a stand against domestic violence and sexual assault.
Some students may associate NO MORE with the television commercials with famous athletes and actors saying phrases like, “No more, ‘Look at what she was wearing’” or “No more, ‘He was asking for it.’” The idea is that these powerful words will bring issues to light — issues that many people are afraid to talk about.
The mission of NO MORE is not only to stop violence, but also to encourage people to speak out, instead of being a silent bystander.
Since its start at SU in April 2014, the Ship Says No More campaign has helped raise awareness through fundraisers and campus activities.
I became involved simply by doing my job as a student journalist — covering an event.
Last October I wrote a story on the progress of Ship Says No More, highlighting the Oct. 7, 2014, tulip planting ceremony the SU Women’s Center hosted for domestic violence awareness month. I gathered my quotes and took photographs, like I would for any other story. But something about this campaign stuck with me.
Maryrose Wilson, who works in human resources, contacted me and asked if The Slate would be interested in taking the campaign a step further. I met with Wilson and Stephanie Erdice, the director of the Women’s Center. I mentioned the idea of creating our own NO MORE video, and we started to think.
The video that you see here is simply the start of what the Ship Says No More video campaign will be. The faces in the video are those of students, athletes, friends and university staff who care about NO MORE. This clip, though it took many hours to create, is only one small part of the final product.
My goal is to interview people around campus and gather information on how SU can help victims of domestic violence and sexual assault. There are actually pages of information on the ship.edu website about No More — I encourage you to look it up — but what The Slate and the Women’s Center hope to do through the video is to create a visual resource that can provide SU students with the essential information in a quick and easy way.
So watch this video, love it, critique it and share it with your friends. Let others know what you think, because I promise there is going to be more.
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