Campus to hold ‘It’s on Us’ events

Today begins the It’s On Us Week of Action, a week dedicated to raising awareness of and preventing campus sexual assault. EMPOWER, a service learning legacy project of the UNMC College of Public Health, will be holding a series of events during the week.

“The It’s on Us Week of Action is an annual awareness campaign designed to educate people about campus sexual assault and the necessity of sexual consent,” said Jessica Semin, R.N., a college of public health student and the vice president of EMPOWER. “We’ve tried to develop some activities that will allow interaction by the UNMC community as we explore this issue.”

On Monday, members of the UNMC community are invited to post a photo of themselves wearing an “It’s on Us” or EMPOWER T-shirt to the EMPOWER Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/UNMCEMPOWER) or Twitter account (https://twitter.com/UNMCEMPOWER) for the chance to win a $40 gift card to Upstream Brewery.

On Tuesday, post an answer to the question “What does consent mean to you?” on the EMPOWER Twitter account (hashtags #IamUNMC, #GotConsent, #Consent and #ItsonUS) for a chance to win dinner for two at Spaghetti Works.

On Wednesday, there will be a fundraiser in conjunction with Noodles and Company at 72nd and Dodge streets. Dine at the restaurant between 4 and 10 p.m. and a portion of the sales will go to support EMPOWER.

Thursday, the presentation “Let’s Talk About Consent” will be held from noon to 1 p.m. in the Sorrell Center, Room 2014. The presentation will feature cookies, teal ribbons and a chance to win Chipotle gift cards for attendees.

On Friday, winners of the Upstream Brewery, Spaghetti Works, and Chipotle gift cards will be announced on Facebook and Twitter.

“We hope that members of the UNMC community take the opportunity to participate,” Semin said. “This is an issue of great importance on campuses nationwide, and EMPOWER is working to increase awareness here at UNMC.”