By Jonathan Klein |Contributor 
This past April, Augusta University participated in and hosted several events to help raise awareness for sexual assault awareness month.Dr. Allison Foley, an associate professor of criminal justice, is heavily involved in helping with the Women and Gender Studies events and the organization of sexual assault awareness events on campus.She explained how Augusta University strives to get the community involved with raising awareness of the sexual assault and showing people that there are resources out there for victims of this crime.She said, “This year was definitely our biggest year, both in terms of the number in attendance and the number of events that we had.”Augusta University’s way of getting involved with the community is by partnering with Augusta Technical College, Georgia Military College, Paine College and Fort Gordon and hosting events and activities that focus on raising awareness all over Augusta.Dr. Foley also mentioned local businesses that partner with these universities to help raise awareness for sexual assault awareness month, such as Bees Knees, the Hive, the Riverwatch Brewery and Fabrik.One of the biggest events held during sexual assault awareness month, Take Back the Night, is held at Augusta University. Dr. Foley explained that it is a time to bring the community together to not only raise awareness of sexual assault but to also let victims' voices be heard.Dr. Foley said it is an event where the community is able to gather in support of victims of sexual crimes, but it is also an event where organizations like Rape Crisis and Sexual Assault Services are able to come together in case anyone has questions or needs to report a crime, there are plenty of experienced people available to help any victims that may be in attendance.Dr. Foley explained that Augusta University is also part of Take Back the Day 5K, a fundraiser organized by Rape Crisis and Sexual Assault Services. Take Back the Day is their biggest event of the year as well as their primary fundraising event. They also screened the movie “Audrey and Daisy," a film telling the stories of two girls that were sexually assaulted in high school and how they recovered from that trauma.Dr. Foley mentioned that Dr. Kim Grey, the director of the office of experiential learning and professor of one of the Augusta University leadership classes, taught a leadership class that organized a fundraiser to raise money for sexual assault awareness month with all of the proceeds going to the Rape Crisis organization.Dr. Liana Babayan, who is the associate professor of French and Women’s and Gender studies, realized by simply talking to her classes about the subjects that there was a need for students to learn more about sexual assault and consent.The Sexual Consent event was created and is organized by AU's Sociology Club and the Women’s Studies Student Club. Dr. Babayan explained this event is a panel discussion that breaks down consent into its simplest terms by giving examples of what is and what isn't consent.Dr. Babayan said there will be investigators who have worked on cases dealing with sexual consent, Title IX, representatives of the Rape Crises organization, and other professors all speaking about their experiences of dealing with cases of sexual crimes. (This story was written for an assignment in Dr. Debra van Tuyll's Communication 2000's class last semester.)