President Obama: ‘It’s on Us’ to Prevent Campus Rape
In a further attempt to bring campus sexual assault into the national conversation, President Obama launched the It’s On Us campaign Friday, a national public service campaign that urges college students to combat sexual assault on their campuses. Calling for a “fundamental shift in our culture,” Obama, joined by Vice President Biden in the East Room of the White House, affirmed that all Americans should feel responsible for preventing sexual violence:
Campus sexual assault is no longer something we as a nation can turn away from and say, ‘that’s not our problem,’…It is not just on parents of young women to caution them, it is on the parents of young men to teach them respect for women. It is on grown men to set an example and be clear about what it means to be a man. … It is on all of us to reject the quiet tolerance of sexual assault and to refuse to accept what’s unacceptable.
Along with a campaign website, itsonus.org, that encourages people to pledge to “not be a bystander to the problem,” the White House also produced a 30-second public service announcement about the new campaign that features celebrities such as Kerry Washington, Jon Hamm, Connie Britton, Questlove and Kevin Love. Several media groups have signed on to help spread the message of the It’s On Us campaign including MTV, VH1 and College Humor. The #ItsOnUs hashtag has already taken off on Twitter with Olivia Munn, Mayim Bialik, Grant Hill and the Big 12 Conference tweeting out their support for the initiative.