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March 16, 1999
Conference on Anti-Sexual Violence to be held at Oberlin College
Media Contact: Betty Gabrielli
OBERLIN--Acclaimed activist Katie Koestner will discuss her and others' journey from victims to survivors of date rape as part of Survivors, Allies, and Activists , a three-day conference to be held on the campus of Oberlin College April 16-18.
Speaking also at the conference will be Diana Courvant, acting director of the Survivor Project. She will address domestic violence issues in transsexual/transgender/intersex communities. Survivor Project is a program based in Portland, Oregon, which aids agencies who work with domestic violence survivors and other persons in need who may be sex- or gender-variant.
After being sexually assaulted by a fellow student at the College of William and Mary in 1991, Koestner went public with her story and is credited with giving a name and a face to a crime few previously were willing to identify or report. Her assault, followed quickly by the media focus on the William Kennedy Smith and Mike Tyson cases, helped bring debate over the issue into the national spotlight.
More than 150 participants from across the U.S. are expected to attend the conference, "an independent collaborative project created and organized by Oberlin students as an inclusive forum for discussion and activism focusing on diverse topics related to sexual violence issues," says senior Deborah Gardner, organizer. The program will include a wide range of workshops, a banquet, networking opportunities, an activist coffeehouse and art exhibition.
"We want to offer people from campuses and organizations around the country involved in anti-sexual violence activism the opportunity to meet together, network, learn, and trade ideas. The conference grew out of our belief that sexual-violence education needed to happen at Oberlin."
"While the impetus for the conference came from members of the College's Sexual Assault Support Team (SAST)," Gardner says, "the event has expanded to include a wide range of student organizers. We see this conference as a large scale activist and educational project about sexual violence issues which goes beyond any one student organization or individual.
"We hope it will address issues of race, gender, class and sexual orientation and foster discussion of such issues as religion and sexual violence survival, sexual offense policies, transsexual/ transgender issues of domestic violence survival and direct action and activism."
"To help pay for the weekend, we are asking a donation on a sliding scale of $0-30 from each attendee--the conference fee is $30; more if you can afford it, less if you can't. No one will be turned away for lack of funds," Gardner says.
Travel scholarships, housing, some meals, and child care can be provided. Translators and interpreters will be available upon request. Facilities are wheelchair accessible; special needs will be accommodated as much as possible. To register, send a check made payable to Oberlin College to Survivors, Allies and Activists, C/O SAST, Wilder Box 62, Oberlin College, Oberlin, OH 44074). For more information contact Gardner at (OSAST@oberlin.edu)
For each person, include name, address, address, telephone number, e-mail address, age, dates accommodations are needed, dietary restrictions, translator/interpreter and other special needs, and group/school affiliation, if any. If childcare is needed, state number of children and ages.
The conference is supported by SAST; the Offices of the President, Residential Life and Services, Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, Safety and Security; Mudd Center; Center for Service and Learning; Oberlin Conservatory of Music; the Forum Board; Bonner Scholars; Student Health; Student Union; Women's Resource Center, the Multicultural Resource Center; and a number of student cooperatives and residence halls.
