ASWSU launched a site for the “It’s On Cougs” campaign today, which aims to increase awareness of sexual assault on campus.

“It’s On Cougs” is part of ASWSU’s website, and includes a pledge against sexual assault for students to take, as well as a list of resources on campus for students looking to talk about any and all sexual assault concerns, from Alternatives to Violence on the Palouse (ATVP) to Melynda Huskey, the WSU Dean of Students.

“We’re very pleased to be partnering with ASWSU on this,” Huskey said.

LaKecia Farmer, ASWSU vice-president took part in a Pac-12 summit this summer, where a group of student government leaders from each school in the Pac-12 met to discuss how to address sexual assault on each campus.

“We want to combat it, prevent it, and raise awareness of sexual violence on all 12 of our campuses,” Farmer said.

Planning for the Pac-12 sexual assault awareness initiative started before “It’s On Us”, a nationwide sexual assault awareness campaign launched by the White House in September. The student leaders wanted the initiative to build off of the momentum that “It’s On Us” has garnered, Farmer said.

Nikki Finnestead, the violence prevention and Green Dot coordinator at WSU, worked closely with Farmer during the development of the site, providing assistance with sensitive language and facts.

“It’s important to remember that this whole campaign is completely student led,” Finnestead said. “It was ASWSU’s idea, they wrote the pledge, and they worked with all of the listed resources and contacts. We applaud their hard work.”

In the past two weeks, there have been seven reports of sexual assault or rape in Pullman and on WSU’s campus. These reports are at the tail end of “the Red Zone,” a name for the first six weeks of a semester when the danger of sexual assault is most prevalent.

Farmer said that the site is not a direct response to these reports, nor was the process sped along as a result.

“Those reports show that this is an issue that needs to be addressed, possibly more so than ever,” Farmer said. “It’s unfortunate, but reporting these events is beneficial for those impacted.”

The site will also include a way to register for “Talk to Us,” a convention for students to have an open discussion about how to prevent sexual assault. The event will take place on November 15.

“It goes beyond discussing how to prevent the act,” Farmer said. “It’s about discussing the environment of sexual assault that we’re in, relating to alcohol, gender-based norms and more.”