Things To Do |

DePaul anti-sex assault campaign tells students to ‘Consent the D’

DePaul University students have a new slogan for the effort to combat campus sexual assault: “Consent the D.”

The campaign launched earlier this month with a custom-designed T-shirts featuring the slogan and the DePaul University “D” logo. Its creators, who attend the school, said their intention was to riff off another campus T-shirt produced for the athletics teams that said “Fear the D.” Some students criticized those T-shirts for bearing a misogynistic message.

Randy Vollrath, one of the creators of “Consent the D,” said his intention was to promote consent and ally-ship on campus, particularly among men. He noted that sexual violence has been a prominent topic on campus in the past year, particularly after an anonymous group of students accused the athletics department of covering up sexual misconduct allegations last spring.

“A lot of students, when they found out what I was doing, were really glad that excitement around the issue hasn’t died down,” said Vollrath, 21, of Lincoln Park. “One criticism we’ve gotten is, ‘what do a bunch of white males think they can do about this issue?’ But I’ve also had a number of people say they’re so glad it’s coming from men, that it’s particularly important that this is initiated by men.”

Half the profits generated by the T-shirts, which are on sale online, will go toward local advocacy organization Rape Victim Advocates, Vollrath said, and more than 75 shirts have been sold so far.

Sexual assault is a widespread but under-reported problem on college campuses around the country, according to researchers and administrators. The Obama administration launched a campaign earlier this fall to raise awareness about campus sexual misconduct, and federal officials are investigating student complaints at dozens of universities, including the University of Chicago and Knox College in Galesburg, Ill.