Next week, The Daily Evergreen will run a special edition focused entirely on sexual assault awareness. Given that April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month, this special edition feels particularly timely.

We published a story last week about a reported instance of sexual harassment involving WSU students. After that article was published, we received multiple news tips about students’ experiences with sexual assault, harassment and the reporting process. 

It is clear to us at The Evergreen that this is an issue many students have faced and are currently facing. It is devastating to hear so many stories of sexual violence, especially when access to resources is limited because of the pandemic.

We recognize these experiences are traumatizing and painful, and it is often difficult for survivors to speak about, let alone report, incidents they would rather forget entirely. 

However, our goal with this edition is to share resources and amplify voices. We want to provide resources to those who have experienced sexual assault or have a loved one dealing with this issue. We also want to offer survivors a creative outlet to express their feelings or share their experiences that may have otherwise gone unheard.

It is incredibly important for students to know how to report sexual assault, if they are in a position to do so. It is also important that we listen to the voices of survivors who want to speak.

We would like to showcase artwork and stories from survivors. In previous years, the WSU Young Women’s Christian Association hung t-shirts on Terrell Mall with survivors’ stories, as part of The Clothesline Project. We hope to embody the sentiment behind this demonstration in our print edition.

We are accepting poems, short stories, drawings, photographs and any other artwork that survivors have created to cope with the trauma of sexual assault and harassment. Please email copies of any creations to [email protected] by Sunday, April 11.

If you or someone you know has experienced sexual violence and want to talk to someone, you have a number of options: 

• Alternatives to Violence of the Palouse: Call 509-332-HELP
• The WSU Women*s Center: Visit women.wsu.edu/saam
• WSU Compliance and Civil Rights: Email [email protected] or visit ccr.wsu.edu/file-a-complaint/
• WSUPD: Call 509-332-2521
• National Sexual Assault Hotline: Call 1-800-656-4673

We also encourage you to submit a news tip about any experiences with sexual assault at WSU. We are happy to support you as best we can in our capacity as journalists and editors.