Saint Louis University chess coach Alejandro Ramirez resigned on Monday, March 6 after eight women accused him of sexual misconduct, including three who said they were underage at the time.

Ramirez, 34, had led the SLU chess club since 2016. He denies the allegations.

Two-time U.S. women’s chess champion Jennifer Shahade, 42, accused Ramirez of two instances of sexual assault in a tweet on Feb. 15, 2023. SLU placed Ramirez on leave the next day. Since Shahade’s tweet, seven other accusers have come forward with incidents of alleged abuse, some as young as 15 at the time. The most recent accusations, detailed in a March 7 report in The Wall Street Journal, stem from 2014.

“A lot of that work to make chess more inclusive is futile if we cannot make crystal clear the safety of women, girls, children is of the highest priority,” Shahade wrote in her initial tweet. “And that’s why I’m speaking out now.”

In a statement, Ramirez said the investigations were “a negative distraction” and his continued employment was “not presently in the best interests of the Club.”

 The Wall Street Journal reported that the U.S. Chess Federation and Saint Louis Chess Club had known about accusations for several years. Both organizations have now opened investigations into Ramirez. In addition to leaving the SLU chess team, Ramirez also announced he was leaving the Saint Louis Chess Club.

“Mr. Ramirez resigned his affiliation with the Saint Louis Chess Club in all respects on Mar. 6, 2023,” the Saint Louis Chess Club said in a statement to Chess.com. “The Saint Louis Chess Club accepted his resignation on March 6, 2023. This action effectively ends his role as coach of the Chess Team at Saint Louis University. The Saint Louis Chess Club has no further comment regarding this employment matter.”

 Ramirez has retained attorney Al Watkins, known for high-profile cases, including Jacob Chansley, the Jan. 6 rioter dressed in fur and face paint, and Mark McCloskey, the St. Louis lawyer photographed outside his home with a rifle in front of Black Lives Matter protesters. In a statement to Chess.com, Watkins said he was worried about the role of social media, specifying the #MeToo movement as a concern.

“At some point we are all compelled to take pause and reflect on the reality that unsubstantiated, temporally aged, and concurrent use of social media to incite a ‘Me Too’ call-to-arms runs afoul of every constitutional safeguard we have always held so dear,” Watkins said. “Superimposing today’s mores on erroneous recitals of acts of yesteryear is a recipe for disaster for both the accused and the accuser.”

A grandmaster since age 15, Ramirez was brought to SLU and the Saint Louis Chess Club as part of an effort to make St. Louis an internationally recognized chess hub. His resignation comes as the St. Louis chess world finds itself in another scandal—World No. 1 grandmaster Magnus Carlsen accusing the young player Hans Niemann of cheating during a match at the Sinquefield Cup in September, where Niemann won in a major upset. Ramirez oversaw the cup and was frequently interviewed in the media about the ensuing controversy.

In early April, SLU’s chess team will compete in the President’s Cup, the highest level of collegiate chess competition at Webster University. After winning last year’s cup with Ramirez, SLU will look to defend their title under an interim coach, the University announced.

Saint Louis University is offering refugees at two African camps the opportunity to earn a bachelor’s degree at no cost through a new partnership with Jesuit Worldwide Learning (JWL). 

The initiative, which begins in October 2023, allows refugees to obtain a Bachelor of Arts in General Studies through SLU’s School for Professional Studies (SPS), designed for adult learners. The program will initially be open for up to 25 students at two refugee camps, Kakuma in Kenya and Dzaleka in Malawi. It may take on another 25 students in the spring, including prospective students from other camps.

“We’re really excited to be involved with this program, because it is so mission-focused,” SPS director of general studies Kyle Crews, PhD, said. “It really allows us to use our own skills and training as educators for the benefit of others.”

Students will first take a year of online study, or 30 academic hours, through Creighton University in Omaha or the Xavier Institute of Management University (XIMU) in Bhubaneswar, India. SLU will then provide the next three years of study, or 90 hours, through asynchronous virtual learning using software such as Canvas. Students will take two eight-week classes at a time from the refugee camps and will meet together at least once a week for shared support time.

“We recognize the benefits of online education, but we also recognize the benefit of learning and working in a community. This program has a bit of the best of both of those worlds,” associate provost Steve Sanchez, PhD, said.

SLU’s partnership with the JWL was arranged over the last year, initially at the proposal of Martha Habash, JWL USA’s academic director and a professor of classics at Creighton University. Provost Mike Lewis was supportive of the idea and identified the SPS as a good fit over its longtime use of virtual learning and its familiarity with flexibility. Habash first requested that SLU chip in a 30-hour program, like Creighton’s or XIMU’s, but SLU offered to take on 90 hours instead.

The students will be taught in independent cohorts. Professors may come from SLU, the JWL, or the Jesuit-affiliated Ignatian Volunteer Corps, consisting primarily of retired professors. A JWL employee will be on-site at both refugee camps to provide tech support and academic coaching. SLU is also undergoing a candidate search for two new positions, Crews said, ideally to be filled by October 2023: an academic director and a support coordinator for the program.

 Refugees face unique barriers to education, Sanchez said, such as reduced internet access and increased personal responsibilities, and differences in time zones make instant communication with professors difficult.

 “It is a population and a program that is harder to arrange for many reasons, and harder to reach and harder to serve because of the challenges that these students, by no fault of their own, have to face,” Sanchez said.

 Founded in Geneva, Switzerland in 2010, JWL provides support for refugees with the goal of “higher education at the margins.” JWL operates 60 community centers in 20 countries, and has been recognized by the UN’s High Commissioner for Refugees and Jesuit Superior General Arturo Sosa.

 “[The program] is really transforming lives and transforming communities because, in good pedagogical fashion, we teach the students that they shouldn’t just be living for themselves but really helping their communities as well,” Habash said.

Replaces Head Pastor Katie Jansen now heads the church, as Fr. Tim McMahon replaces Fr. Dan White

St. Francis Xavier College Church has made major changes ahead of the school year, replacing its head pastor and appointing a lay woman to leadership.

Katie Jansen took over as the church’s first parish life coordinator on Aug. 21, as the church pivoted to a less top-down model. Jansen, who previously served as College Church’s parish administrator, is the church’s first woman and first non-ordained leader.

“When people see themselves or someone who looks like them in leadership, that space feels more open to them. So, if a woman sees another woman in leadership, this feels like a welcoming place,” Jansen said.

The move comes as the Catholic Church worldwide attempts to reconcile its ordained and laic elements, and amid calls for reform in a historically male-dominated institution. Jansen, a former community organizer and member of the Jesuit Volunteer Corps, hopes the change reflects a new way of thinking about the church and its role with parishioners.

“I think, historically, the Church has been pretty good at saying who doesn’t belong, instead of suggesting that, actually, people do belong,” Jansen said. “So, this is one more way to say, yes, women do belong in leadership in this church.”

Jansen is the second lay woman to lead a church in the Archdiocese and the third within the Jesuits’ U.S. Central and Southern (UCS) province, comprising 12 U.S. states, Puerto Rico and the nation of Belize. In a press release, UCS said the change “allows for a more inclusive, progressive, forward-looking leadership model.”

“Many lay people feel called to church ministry the same way that a priest does,” Jansen said. “And if we create space for that calling, the Church is more vibrant.”

Fr. Tim McMahon, SJ replaced 10-year head pastor, Fr. Dan White, SJ on Aug. 1, after both priests celebrated Sunday Mass the day before. McMahon, who brings with him an extensive career in both spiritual and educational leadership, praised the construction of the new Jesuit Center as a sign of SLU’s commitment to the Church.

“It’s a new era in the history of the Jesuit presence at the University, and I think hopefully one that will continue to grow,” McMahon said.

McMahon mentioned there are certain roles with legal considerations he has to take on alone as “canonical pastor,” such as officiating weddings. However, when possible, the church will function as a “shared ministry” between him and Jansen, he said.

The leadership shuffle, supported by St. Louis Archbishop Mitchell Rozanski, is aligned with “Our Parish Vision,” a strategic plan launched by the College Church in July 2020. The plan reflects changes implemented during the Second Vatican Council of the 1960s, as well as calls made by Pope Francis for a “synod on synodality,” emphasizing lay parishioners’ contributions to the Church, Jansen said.

 “The transition we are making is not just a change in leadership,” College Church said in a statement. “It is a change in the way we are community.”

McMahon said the church aims to find more ways to include lay people in future decisions.

“We have a lot of people with a lot of gifts,” he said. “This model is a way of exploring how we can better allow people opportunities to put their gifts at the service of not only the wider parish community but beyond the walls of the community.”

Jansen echoed the goal of finding and establishing places for parishioners to better contribute. She cited Pope Francis’ request for all Archdiocese to hold listening sessions and College Church’s effort to include parishioners’ reflections in bulletins earlier in the pandemic.

“We all have a relationship with God. The Holy Spirit works in all of us,” Jansen said. “We all have experiences that help us understand our faith, and we have faith that helps us understand our experiences.”

Professor Sarah Adam, O.T.D. hopes on taking a trip to Paris in summer 2024, but she’s not planning a vacation. She’s competing for a spot with  

Team USA’s wheelchair rugby team.

       “It’s certainly an honor. It’s a fun reason to travel around the world,” she said.

      This season, she’s been named to the 16-person training squad; of those on the squad, Adam and teammate Liz Dunn are the only women. The two could be the first women to represent Team USA in the unisex sport as 12 individuals are selected to compete at the Paralympic Games.

     Adam said SLU has been “hugely supportive” of her Paralympic journey, which includes taking time off for training camps in Birmingham, Ala., and competitions, sometimes internationally. Before her tryouts, members of the Occupational Therapy program decorated her office and gave her a banner signed by all students, and upon her return,  the staff greeted her by chanting “U-S-A”.

      “I lucked out. SLU has been absolutely phenomenal,” Adam said. “And it’s great to have that support, because I’m not sure that I necessarily would get that from many other jobs.”

       She trains at SLU’s Simon Recreation Center, and said that it has a lot of wheelchair-accessible equipment, which ensures she can comfortably exercise for competition at a high level.

      “They met with me early on to see if there’s anything that they could do to help facilitate my workouts, or any other pieces of equipment, not just for me, but for if there’s other people on campus that have a disability that want to access those machines,” Adam said.

     Her schedule is “pretty darn busy,” she said, as Adam’s days consist of her arriving to campus in the morning to teach until 5 or 6 p.m., going to the rec center and exercising for about two hours (one spent on the track or basketball court, another in the weight room), and getting home by 9 p.m. to make dinner and go to sleep. Sometimes, she’ll work out twice in one day.

      “And then, I live alone, so you still have to add in having to do all the household chores and grocery shopping and cooking and laundry and all that,” Adam said. “It keeps me pretty busy, but I don’t mind.”

         The wheelchair rugby team most recently won the 2022 Americas Championship in Medellín, Colombia, held from March 9-12. Adam said the team’s biggest tournament will be the World Championships, held in Vejle, Denmark from Oct. 10-16 and which will count as a Paralympic qualifying match.

       On campus, Adam has been invited to talk with classes about her “lived experience as a person with a disability,” which she appreciates doing in order to dispel “inaccurate stereotypes and misconceptions and whatnot.”

       “I think [a misconception is] that we’re fragile. And that’s part of why I like murderball or wheelchair rugby, because it shows we’re not fragile. We’re going in and we’re hitting each other as hard as we possibly can and trying to flip them over, and working our butts off day in and day out to get better,” she said.

        Adam mentioned that students have recognized her at the gym, highlighting that she tries to use such experiences as a teachable moment.

     “I’m certainly not a celebrity or anything like that, but it is a fun way to engage students and teach them about areas that they maybe had never thought about with adaptive sports and spreading our message around on the campus,” Adam said. “I see people that are watching me working out. Their eyes get really big to see how fast we can go in those chairs and training hard just like any other able-bodied athletes, which is really what I’m hoping to show.”

       While she was a graduate student at Washington University in St. Louis, Adam, then able-bodied, volunteered as a coach for wheelchair rugby players. Soon afterward, she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, and over the next few years lost most function in her legs.

Already acquainted with members of what she called a tight community,  Adam re-entered the world of wheelchair rugby as a competitor. The sport, and the friendships she has made through it, have helped her immensely, she emphasized.

     “My wheelchair is my freedom. It helps me get around easily. It’s not a constraint for me,” Adam said. “Same thing for adaptive sports: that’s been my freedom. It’s helped me now to go travel the world, and stay healthy and helps my MS.”

    Adam hopes that by being visible on campus, she raises awareness of adaptive sports and tolerance of disabled athletes. 

      “I’m hoping to show people the power of adaptive sports, whether physical health, the camaraderie or the peer support, but also that we’re not really all that different from any of the able-bodied athletes. We play sports in a different way—that’s it,” she said.

The world has been on high alert since Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a “military operation” in Ukraine on Feb. 24. The University News talked to three experts on Russia and Ukraine to get their insight on the war.

Monica Eppinger, Ph.D., J.D., is a professor at the Saint Louis University School of Law, where she teaches courses on international law and national security. From 1995 to 1997, she served in the U.S. Embassy in Ukraine under Ambassador William Green Miller. During this crisis, Eppinger has stayed in touch with friends who remain in Ukraine.

“This far exceeds my worst-case scenario,” Eppinger said. “And my only comfort is that every other expert that I’ve heard from had the same expectations that we did, whether Russians or Ukrainians, or Western Europeans or Americans. I only know one Ukrainian who openly expected there to be an invasion.”

Ellen Carnaghan, Ph.D., is a professor of political science at SLU and a scholar of post-Soviet conflicts. She said that she finds Putin’s actions difficult to understand.

“I was surprised by the full-scale invasion, insofar that I find it hard to make sense of,” Carnaghan said. “I find it hard to see what this invasion actually can accomplish.”

Though the war may seem far away to some, Eppinger said it will affect the U.S. in a way that will be “impossible to ignore.”

“Your gas prices are going to go up,” Eppinger said. “Ukrainians grow a lot of sunflowers. Sunflower seed oil is already up. Ukrainians grow a lot of wheat; they’re always in the top 10 of world wheat producers. Chances are your bread prices are going to go up. So, until the war is settled, we’re going to miss the things that Ukraine produces.”

Daniel L. Schlafly, Ph.D., is an expert in Russian history. He served as a professor at SLU from 1998 until his retirement last spring. Schlafly, who has analyzed the region since the height of the Cold War, said the “unprovoked aggression by an autocrat” caught him off-guard.

“I’m very surprised,” Schlafly said, though he noted that Putin “has been poking around on the eastern territories for a long time.”

Much of Putin’s defense of the war has hinged on denying that Ukraine is, or should be, separate from Russia. As a historical argument, Putin’s claims fall short, Schlafly said.

“[Putin] basically is weaving together a tissue of historical lies to justify his crap,” Schlafly said.

While the modern state of Ukraine, like the Russian Federation, was only formed after the fall of the Soviet Union, the idea of an independent Ukraine is far from new, Schlafly said. The two countries share a lot of history, but have fundamental differences with regard to language, culture and religion, Carnaghan said.

“There’s a historical basis for that argument. Both Russia and Ukraine claim their history from the same civilization from around 1000 AD,” Carnaghan said. “But since that time, there’s been a fair amount of consistent distinguishing between the Ukrainians and the Russians.”

Another claim Putin made which raised eyebrows was his stated goal to “demilitarize and denazify” Ukraine. Eppinger, who hosted a “teach-in” event on Ukraine at the law school on March 2, said she was worried by the statement’s implications.

“[Putin] has also said that he intends to replace the government of Ukraine,” Eppinger said. “So, by ‘demilitarize’, I would imagine if he managed to replace the government of Ukraine, it would not only be his puppet person there, but that Ukraine wouldn’t have a defense capacity after that.”

Carnaghan attributed the “denazify” comment to the 2014 “Revolution of Dignity,” which she said saw some involvement from fascists.

“There’s a basis; it’s not enough to justify bombing a country,” Carnaghan said. “At the time of that revolution, there were some neo-Nazis involved in the protests, because there are neo-Nazis all across that area of the world, and they were looking for a fight. There was one, so they were involved.”

All of the experts had high praise for the Biden administration’s response, noting the high amount of information that has been made public and mentioning the difficulty in supporting Ukraine while averting direct warfare.

“The West has made absolutely clear it’s not going to send military force,” Schlafly said. “But if the West can supply arms, ammunition, money and supplies—and they’ve got a long border on which to do it—they can probably hold the Russians off.”

Carnaghan said she understood decisions by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the Biden administration to not administer a much-discussed “no-fly zone” over Ukraine.

“I think that NATO was very concerned about taking any kind of action that would appear to put NATO directly at war with Russia. Because NATO at war with Russia means the United States is at war with Russia, and that is potentially a nuclear conflict,” Carnaghan said. “Putin has said it’s tantamount to a declaration of war, and it really does come pretty close.”

Eppinger said she views the prospects of nuclear war as unlikely but “definitely higher this week than it was last week.” She was also alarmed, she said, by Russia’s use of extremely lethal “thermobaric weapons”, nicknamed “vacuum bombs”, against Ukraine.

“Those things are scary and they should not exist on the face of the earth,” Eppinger said. “I would imagine that using them for any purpose is a violation of the international law of war. But they’re being lined up on the border of Ukraine right now.”

Schlafly warned of a “long and very bloody insurgency” if Russia manages to take power in Ukraine.

“If the Ukrainians can hold out, there will be a sort of stalemate. I’m not sure they can,” he said.

Eppinger said she will call on SLU to accept refugees from Ukraine, and advocated the establishment of a “Ukrainian Study Center”.

SLU President Fred Pestello, Ph.D. issued a statement in solidarity with Ukraine on March 1, calling for “mercy, compassion and comfort” and “a lasting and just peace.” The statement was co-signed by members of his cabinet and the Student Government Association (SGA) executive board.

That same day, the St. Francis Xavier College Church was lit up in blue and yellow, the colors of the Ukrainian flag. The church held a service in support of peace on March 7.

Monica Eppinger, Ph.D, J.D, a professor at the Saint Louis University School of Law, told the University News that she will call on SLU to assist Ukrainian refugees fleeing the Russian invasion.

“We should be so lucky as to get refugees from Ukraine,” Eppinger said. “This is not a burden. This would be a benefit.”

Eppinger, who served in the U.S. Embassy to Ukraine from 1995 to 1997, is an expert on both Ukraine and Russia, and teaches courses on international law and national security. Eppinger said she has been following the news closely since the war began on Feb. 24. She regularly returns to visit the country, where, by her estimate, one-third of her friends continue to live.

“The talent pool coming out of Ukraine is an extremely well-educated population, and it’s a population that universities can connect with,” Eppinger said.

Eppinger said her proposal will entail working with Catholic universities in Hungary, Poland and western Ukraine—the region she says will likely hold out the longest against the Russian invasion—to direct refugees to SLU.

“There are things we can do that would be creative and that would be in alignment with Pope Francis’ vision,” Eppinger said.

She floated the Ukrainian Catholic University in Lviv as one possible college SLU could work with.

“We could even try to target the communities that are the most like us: college-age students who are fleeing, or professors, or researchers,” Eppinger said.

On March 2, Eppinger hosted a “teach-in” event on Ukraine at the law school. Top-level college faculty, including university president Fred Pestello, Ph.D., have met with Eppinger in the past few days to get her insight on the war.

“May we extend care, support, and love to members of our SLU family who are suffering,” Pestello said in a March 1 email statement. “May we do whatever is in our power to mitigate suffering and to foster a place where curiosity guides our thoughts and becomes a salve that heals.”

The total number of refugees has already surpassed 1.5 million, according to the UN—an even more staggering figure considering that Ukraine, now under martial law, has required all men aged 18 to 60 to remain in the country. As Russian troops encroach westward, the number of refugees is expected to grow.

“Most Ukrainians that are fleeing now, they don’t want to live anywhere else,” Eppinger said. “They just want to go home when the war is over.”

Eppinger suggested the creation of a temporary “Ukrainian Study Center” at SLU as “a place where intellectuals could come together, and artists could come together, and students could come together.” She also proposed offering housing to refugees, and said if the war lasts through the summer or fall, she would support the creation of a scholarship for students and a short-term position for professors.

“On a local level, cities like St. Louis need to be prepared to step up to welcome Ukrainians,” Eppinger said.

Eppinger wants SLU to direct highly-educated refugees into sectors such that “the intellectual firepower that’s fleeing Ukraine right now doesn’t just get dissipated.” She posited that in addition to SLU, Ukrainians could find work in the Cortex, a Midtown tech-startup hub, or could work for the city government.

“There are ways that Saint Louis University, as the university that serves our city, could really help people coming out of Ukraine in ways that might benefit the city of St. Louis, even if we only had a temporary surge effort,” Eppinger said.

While Eppinger generally had high praise for the Biden administration’s response to the crisis, she criticized the administration for leaving behind 635 Ukrainian employees of the U.S. embassy and their families as American diplomats evacuated from Kyiv to Lviv, calling it “Kabul part two.”

“If we thought for the last six weeks that an invasion was coming, we should have been taking care of our Ukrainian colleagues. We have not yet, and those guys are in a really dangerous position,” Eppinger said.

She said she hopes that there will be demand at SLU for refugee assistance once she proposes her plan.

“I’m imagining if [the war] goes as long as this summer or into the fall, that there would be students at SLU interested in learning from Ukrainians,” Eppinger said.

The student-run anonymous sexual assault hotline SAM, now in its second semester, has seen rapid growth in both volunteers and callers as pandemic restrictions ease. Now, SAM is looking to ramp up its efforts at SLU and add chapters to other colleges across the country.

“It makes me happy to see that people are interested in SAM,” vice-chairman Mia Filipe said. “I think a lot of people are passionate about the cause.”

The group, now a nonprofit, has networked with other established organizations, such as a similar group at Washington University in St. Louis (WashU). SAM also met with the team behind the mobile app Unmasked, which is aimed at providing college students with mental health resources. Filipe said SAM, which was founded by SLU students, plans to expand to other universities in the next couple of years. 

“We wanted to focus on first making sure we were really established at SLU and that people knew about us and that everything was going smoothly until we started branching out, but that is something we’re in the process of right now,” Filipe said.

SAM, which was officially founded in 2015, began running the hotline in the spring 2021 semester. The group, at first, not a chartered student organization (CSO), affiliated themselves with the University last year after a run-in with administrators over whether they could post flyers on campus, Filipe said. Initially, SLU said only CSOs could advertise on campus, and SAM went through the process of being such a group to comply with this rule.

Following further conflicts with SLU administrators, SAM retained the counsel of an attorney and SLU Law professor John Ammann, who offered to work for the group pro bono. Ammann helped the group register as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).

“Just by SLU itself, we were definitely a lot more well-respected once he was on board,” Filipe said.

SAM then signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with SLU, allowing them to advertise the hotline on campus, Filipe said. Their funding comes from state and federal grants and tax-deductible donations and profit-sharing events from corporations.

“It’s definitely been really rewarding, seeing how SAM has grown and seeing how we’ve grown to be respected,” Filipe said.

Being a nonprofit group, and having a lawyer on standby, has allowed the hotline greater freedom, Filipe said.

“It’s a lot of sensitive work, and there’s a lot of legal things surrounding that because for liability purposes, people don’t want to get in trouble,” Filipe said. “That’s why we have our own insurance, we have our own everything.”

Still, they have run into some snafus. Filipe recalled a recent incident where an officer of the Department of Public Safety (DPS) demanded SAM give them information the group had collected, seemingly unaware of the hotline’s independent status.

“It was just nice to be able to say, ‘Talk to our lawyer about this, because you clearly do not know what you are talking about,’” Filipe said.

According to mandatory disclosures made by the university under the Clery Act, there have been 18 incidents reported to SLU’s Title IX office this semester, including seven reported rapes. SAM has received far more calls than that, Filipe said, adding that SAM operators are trained to present all available options to callers without preference toward any option in particular.

“We’re first here to listen to what that person is looking for,” Filipe said. “It’s really going to be dependent on what the survivor is looking for, and we kind of just go step-by-step through there.”

Given the nature of their work and concerns over outside pressure from university or government officials, SAM does not collect personal information from callers, Filipe said. All callers remain anonymous, and when a person dials the hotline, their phone number is obscured from the other end.

The call is then taken up by one of the multiple volunteers via the program Google Voice. Operators also remain anonymous by group policy, identifying themselves to callers as only “Sam”. The only information taken down by hotline operators relates to the case specifically, information such as whether the caller was planning to seek counseling, Filipe said.

Operators are required to take 40 hours of training, completed through the video-conferencing application Zoom. In those sessions, operators are trained on identity-related factors, Filipe said, teaching them how specific issues may relate to people of color, members of the LGBT community, or male victims, for example.

“A really core principle and value to SAM is empathy,” Filipe said. “That’s really trying to take yourself out of your shoes and put yourself in someone else’s, no matter what that person is going through. And a big part of that is recognizing, ‘I may not understand what you’re going through, but I hear you and I’m going to try to help you to the best of my ability.’”

The hotline is active on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays beginning at 10 p.m. and going to 4 a.m. the next day, and is active from noon to 4 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays.ow Independent, Sex Assault Hotline Eyes Expansion