UTM’s resident advisors were required for the first time to receive training on topics of sexual assault, the warning signs of sexual assault, and topics relating to alcohol or drug abuse in order to become peer educators affiliated with SABER as a mandated aspect of their resident advisor training.

SABER, which stands for Sexual Assault Behavior Education Response, is a group of students who are trained to “promote awareness, prevention, and effective response to sexual assault,” according to the SABER website. Many of the peer educators involved with the SABER organization are on a volunteer basis. The resident advisors were required to attend this day-long training in order to expose the common misconceptions about sexual assault and to provide an avenue of knowledge accessible to any student living in the dorms.

Ryan Martin, Assistant Director of Housing, said that the training of the RA’s with the SABER organization developed after he talked about it with Dr. Levy and both agreed that it was a good idea. “This will help the RA’s be more prepared for these issues on their floors,” said Martin.

Not only are resident advisors considered members of this peer educator group but they are given the opportunity to further their understanding of topics relevant to sexual assault issues by attending regular SABER meetings throughout the school year. It will not be required for RA’s to attend SABER meetings but Dr. Jennifer Levy, one of the advisors to the organization, hopes that many will in order to supplement their knowledge and become better peer educators. Levy described the day-long event by saying it was “wonderful. We have been training peer educators for seven years and this was the first time to train the RA’s.”

“The RA’s really seemed to enjoy it and appreciated the hard work done by Lt. Ray Coleman, Dr. Santiago and the Counseling Center,” said Martin. “Many of the RA’s have said that they will continue on with the peer educator program through SABER.”

Some of the responsibilities of these newly trained peer educators will be to provide presentations to the residence halls, student groups and provide lively, interactive classroom presentations, according to Levy. The volunteer peer educators also provide guidance services in order to provide information regarding the appropriate resources on campus to use in the event of a sexual assault.

“The first few weeks of the school year are the most high risk weeks in any incoming student’s life. It was a great opportunity to train the RA’s because of their close relationships with the students on their floors and because they are the most accessible resource to the new students on the campus,” said Levy.

Arionna Taylor, a junior Biology major that serves as a RA in Ellington, participated in the required SABER training. She said that her eyes were opened up to the fact that sexual assault is not only a common problem for girls. “Most people think it happens only to women but it can happen to men too. I was really shocked to learn that,” said Taylor.

With the incorporation of the RA’s into the SABER peer educator network, Levy feels that more students will become aware of the risks as well as the statistics associated with sexual assault. “The vast majority of sexual assaults are never reported. Ninety percent of sexual assaults occur between two people who know each other and it is not always in a dating situation. Alcohol is quite frequently involved in sexual assaults and could be another reason people don’t report them. People feel guilty about their intoxication and will not tell anyone of an assault because of this,” said Levy. As far as whether the RA’s will be required to receive this training again next year is unclear at this time. However, Dr. Levy hopes that it will be included in the future because the more people that are educated about sexual assault, the least likely it will continue to go on without being noticed.

“Many people think that it cannot happen to them but it really could. I want to continue on with the peer educator program because it could happen to me or one of my friends. I want to know everything I can to better help the people I care most about,” said Taylor.

If anyone is interested in becoming a peer educator or learning more about the SABER program, the meetings are scheduled for the first and third Tuesday of every month in room 229 in the UC at 6:30 p.m. The first meeting of the year will be September 5. SABER also has a website: www.utm.edu/saber.