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Vice President Joe Biden, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, and University of New Hampshire Senior Sara Jane Bibeau deliver remarks at the University of New Hampshire, in Durham, NH, April 4, 2011. (Official White House Photo by David Lienemann). (Official White House Photo)Sara Jane Bibeau, a student at the University of New Hampshire, contributed a piece to the White House Blog, "Ending Sexual Violence: One Student on One Campus at a Time," I thought it would be an appropriate message to post here.
I love being a student at the University of New Hampshire. It's in a beautiful part of the country, the campus is gorgeous, and there are so many opportunities for students to grow and develop.Here's a video of VP Biden, who, along with Arne Duncan, the admin's Secretary of Education, announced the release of guidance documents to help schools reduce sexual assault. These are your friends, these are your classmates, the people you study with. You need to watch out for each other. You are the first-and best-line of defense...The more and more you bring attention to the issue, the less and less the behavior goes unnoticed, unreported and unpunished, and the more and more attitudes begin to change.But I never imagined those opportunities would include introducing the Vice President of the United States.
Today I was able to stand up and talk about an issue that is so important to me: ending sexual assault. I believe we can all work together to change the culture so that rape and sexual assault are not tolerated. Teens and young women experience the highest rates of sexual assault. Our generation has the chance to make it stop.
The Vice President feels the same way. Today he shared the stories of victims, talked about the progress we have made, and challenged us to take the next step and prevent rape before it ever happens.
The Vice President was able to speak for young women and men whose voices had been silenced by rape and other forms of sexual violence. He inspired me to continue my work as an advocate for victims, and keep speaking publicly about the devastating consequences to our society. He also gave us the confidence to carry on our fight to end sexual violence. In his words, "not just to decrease it, to end it."I was both honored and privileged to introduce Vice President Biden today, but what I'm really excited about are the next steps. I believe that this event was just one of many great things to come here at UNH and across other communities in our nation.
Know your rights under Title IX? Learn more. Read the full text of the guidance, as well as a fact sheet.