Before coming to this internship, Meredith Smith briefly discussed the need for a prevention curriculum to incorporate into the first year seminar, TIDES. When I began actually working in the Title IX office, I learned that prevention is the second step after we clean up the response resources available to students and make sure it’s clear and understood through the Title IX website. While I haven’t been working with prevention this summer, I’ve done so much more to help develop the Title IX website than I even knew was necessary.
I mentioned in my last blog post about the comprehensive clickthrough for survivors and loved ones of survivors to learn about difference resources and processes. I’ve taken a step back from that – for the time being – while Meredith Smtih and Julia Broussard help me edit it and include missing resources. Since then, I’ve been doing deep research in other university websites and sifting through important aspects of their websites that Tulane should include in theirs. I’ve found everything from a “quick exit” button linked on the website that takes the individual out of the website and opens a new tab (either to Google or the university homepage) that is especially useful for victims of relationship abuse that may be in unsafe situations while learning about resources. I’ve found terms and definitions for viewers to look through (and created my own to add to the Title IX website), help while abroad and/or for international students, and overall better visual layout of websites from different universities. And most importantly, I found LGBTQ+ resources easily accessible. Which brought me to my next project…
Tulane is FAR behind when it comes to LGBTQ+ resources. In fact, the only link on the current website is to the Office of Gender and Sexual Diversity. A link, I might add, that takes viewers directly to the O’s webpage which doesn’t include information on sexual violence. I’ve since added resources both on and off campus for LGBTQ+ students, breaking it down to sexual assault, relationship violence, and stalking and how that might look different for a student from the LGBTQ+ community. Currently, I’m helping Julia edit scripts for videos that break down the conduct process for students to view in the comfort of their own homes if they are considering reporting an assault and aren’t ready to talk to someone. Hopefully all of this will be added to the website by the end of the summer.
Taking on these projects has really helped me develop my leadership skills and take initiative. Besides a weekly check-in with Meredith or Julia, the interns are left almost entirely on their own to carry out the projects we’ve been assigned. Past Maya could have easily taken advantage of this time and goofed off or done other work, but I’ve maintained focused and able to take on these projects head on, working efficiently to follow through each project and coming up with my own projects based on what I learned. For example, the lack of LGBTQ+ resources is something the office was vaguely aware of, but once I realized no one was working to fix it I asked to take on this project head on. Working with the other interns is also extremely useful because we are all working on different projects but are able to bounce ideas off of each other. It’s also extremely motivational to be working with other interns who have the same drive and passion as I do and we help keep each other focused and on track.
I’m growing each and every day, getting better informed about resources available on campus and around the greater New Orleans area and I look forward to putting my knowledge to good use in the upcoming school year.