A protest was held in the Willow Bowl on campus Sunday Aug. 18 in support of sexual assault awareness and pushing for changes to the WSC Title IX policies following arrests of two students.
Organizing the protest was a top priority for former student, Krista Renyoldson, and current students, Jessica Gall and Lydia Vaske, who felt their questions to the college were left unanswered after their reports were made aware to administration.
“Planning the protest started with a Facebook post on Residents of Wayne that was up for twelve minutes before it got taken down and I was removed from the group.” Gall said. “People picked up the post so quickly and it got reposted many times to Snapchat. During that time, I was taking a nap, and I was shocked by how far it spread across Snapchat and more women began coming forward with their stories.”
Survivors and community members were frustrated about the lack of response from the college regarding these allegations and began to worry about safety while attending school.
Lisa Reynoldson, Krista’s mother, attended the protest with other members of her family.
“I just hope more survivors speak their mind and make themselves heard.” Reynoldson said. “I want Wayne State to take accountability for their action and inactions and change the broken Title IX policy that has allowed this to happen.”
Small business owner and community member, Chele Meisenbach, attended the protest.
“I look back to when it happened to me in college and the support I had. I want better for them.” Meisenbach said. “I want the parents to know that they can send their kids to school here, and we are going to take good care of them. We take the kids’ health and wellness seriously as people who live here. Talk until you are listened to. The more we talk, the more we can stop this from happening.”
Campus security manager, Jason Mrsny, has been serving on campus for 25 years after receiving a degree in security management from WSC. Campus security’s role is to respond to calls, document the incident and forward information onto an appropriate office.
“We have talked to those kids that are homesick, we have talked to those kids that are having roommate problems, we have talked to those kids that have maybe had too much to drink. We want to help and that’s what it’s all about. To get those kids to graduation safely is our top priority.” Mrsny said.
Going into this year, Mrsny said his team of four full-time officers and other student officers are conducting business as usual.
“We are very aware. I have very few people that have come to me about any tension. I know it’s there but it’s just business as usual.” Mrsny said. “We had no problems with the protest on August 18 and it went on without problems. We want to make sure whatever anyone is protesting their voices are heard. There is no problem with that It represents our community and the college.” Security asks that they are made aware of any organized protest to make sure it is respectful for the campus community and that all parties are heard without putting anyone in danger.
The school released a statement following the allegations. “At Wayne State College, our commitment to creating a secure and supportive environment for every student is unwavering. Anytime an allegation of an on-campus sexual assault is made, Wayne State College responds, both out of concern for the welfare of our students and consistent without obligations under the law.”
Krista Renyoldson recognized how peaceful and welcoming the environment was at the protest.
“It is hard to see how many people are affected by this issue in general.” Renyoldson said. “It felt good just to be surrounded by so much empowerment at the protest.”
Future events are planned to support other sexual assault survivors within the campus community. The email hotline w[email protected] was created by an anonymous group to allow support during the process of Title IX reporting around campus.
“I want everyone going through this to know that they are not alone.” Renyoldson said. “We plan on organizing more events in the future to get the word out and spread awareness about sexual assault.”
