April marks Sexual Assault Awareness Month in the U.S. This month, the UO and greater Eugene community have planned a handful of events, all to support the cause and raise awareness about the issue.

Women have been organizing protests against sexual assault for decades. After a group of women in England conducted the first Take Back the Night march in the ’70s, the U.S. soon followed suit. By the late ’80s, advocates in the States were fully involved and began pushing for a week dedicated to the issue. There were so many organized events that eventually a month was set aside for the cause. Sexual Assault Awareness Month was first officially observed in the U.S. in April 2001.

Several events are happening this week in Eugene.

In carrying on tradition, the ASUO Women’s Center organizes a UO Take Back The Night event every year. This year’s event is April 24, and will begin with a rally in the EMU amphitheater at 6:30 p.m., and proceed with a march through downtown Eugene.

In addition, several fundraisers this month will benefit Sexual Assault Support Services of Lane County. Ninkasi Brewing Company will host Pints for a Cause this Thursday, April 3 and 25 percent of all pint sales will help the local nonprofit.

Sweet Life Patisserie is also selling special SAAM cupcakes this Friday through Sunday in a fundraiser where 25 percent of SAAM cupcake sales will benefit SASS.

Theater fans can also support the cause. The Eugene/Springfield community production of the play Vagina Monologues will show at the Wesley Center this Friday and Saturday at 7 p.m., and 2 p.m. on Sunday. Ticket proceeds and any donations will benefit SASS. More information about the production is available on the production’s website.

BB Beltran, executive director of SASS, looks forward to the month ahead.

“My goal for April, just like every April, is to really increase public awareness about the issue of sexual violence,” Beltran said. “To learn how to prevent it and create a safer community.”

Mohammed Al Ghamdi, a Saudi Arabian student studying at the UO, feels free to practice his religion.

“To be a Muslim student (at the UO), I feel the same as in Saudi Arabia,” Al Ghamdi said. “No one asks me or bothers me about my religion.”

Al Ghamdi says he chose to study here because — like many Saudis — his career field pressured him to learn English in America. But out of anywhere in the U.S., he chose Eugene because the environment is comfortable and accepting of his lifestyle and religion.

Like Al Ghamdi, many international students have chosen the UO for their studies. In the 2012-2013 school year, 1,319 Saudis were enrolled in UO’s Intensive English Program as part of the American English Institute. That’s exactly half of all IEP students. In coming years, the type of Saudi students who come to UO could soon be changing to a more graduate student concentrated demographic due to a shift in financial aid. 

UO Director of International Student and Scholar Services Abe Schafermeyer offered several reasons why Eugene appeals to international students.

“The Pacific Northwest, a small college town …” Schafermeyer said. “It feels safe and comfortable. It’s not Los Angeles, it’s not San Francisco — the cost of living is a little bit cheaper, so all of those combine to make this an attractive location.”

Beyond location, other factors contribute to the rapid influx of Saudi Arabian students. Schafermeyer says for most Saudis to enter to a typical four year university in the U.S. they must fulfill English requirements through a language institution first. The vast majority of colleges in the U.S. don’t have an in-house English institute, but UO does with the AEI program. This makes the UO a convenient way for international students to study in the U.S.

Schafermeyer said Saudis have been coming to the U.S. in larger numbers after 9/11, when the Saudi government formed a scholarship for its students to study in the U.S.

“(The scholarship) was a way that young people could exchange so we could break down some stereotypes,” Schafermeyer said.

“It’s a great thing for this campus to have this number of students from the Middle East,” Schafermeyer said. “When Christian-Islam tensions are high in other places in the world, this is an important thing for a college to participate in.”

But Schafermeyer has heard that this scholarship is beginning to phase out the undergrad program and is switching to sponsoring graduate students. Following this shift, he expects to see modest growth in the number of Saudi graduate students at UO and a dip in the number of undergrads. Having older students on campus tends to impact the campus community differently than undergrads.

When Al Ghamdi moved to Eugene a few months ago he brought his wife with him, confident that the city would be a suitable place for a Muslim woman.

“You see this play out in a very distinct way on the University of Oregon campus,” Schafermeyer said. “Graduate students means older students; older students in Saudi Arabia means married students … That’s why we start seeing more females come to study, more families with children.”

In the coming years, Schafermeyer says the influx of married grad students like Al Ghamdi may impact several aspects of UO life — including housing near and on campus.

Rita Radostitz, director of strategic communications and marketing, says that the housing department works closely with the admissions office to make sure that they’re meeting housing needs.

“If the number of graduate students increases,” Radostitz said, “whether from Saudi Arabia or any other country, we will work to ensure that their housing needs are met.”

In fact, the university invites international students to campus. The goal is to foster a multicultural environment.

“We want young people who are forming opinions in their life to be living and learning next to people who are different from them,” Schafermeyer said. “We want to have intentional moments of dialogue. We’re bringing these students on purpose. This is part of an effort to become a globally relevant institution.”

The Pew Research Center released the reports of surveys on LGBTQ attitudes and demographics last year. The studies measured roughly 1200 gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender individuals in the US. But with University of Oregon earning one of the highest ratings in the country for being LGBTQ-friendly, how true are these trends for average Ducks?

Maure Smith-Benanti, assistant director of LGBT Education and Support Services Program for the UO, witnesses the trends and opinions around issues of sexual orientation at the college level. She serves as an advisor to the UO LGBTQA, advisor to UO QTSS (a housing group) and Theta Pi Sigma sorority. In addition, Smith-Benanti oversees the Bridges program, the Queer Ally Coalition and the outreach team. Below are her responses to each statistic and how it relates to the UO community.

1. 40 percent of the LGBTQ population identifies as bisexual – and there are about 3 times as many bisexual women as men.

Smith-Benanti is not surprised by the data about fewer bisexual males – she believes that bisexual men tend to underreport.

2. Only 28 percent of bisexuals say that important people in their lives know about their sexual orientation.

Smith-Benanti: “A lot of us Americans assume heterosexuality … There’s a lot of assumption that when a relationship looks like a heterosexual couple, that it just is.”

3. About 30 percent of respondents say they’ve been threatened or physically attacked for their sexual orientation.

This statistic holds true in the UO community, says Smith-Benanti. “I would say 30 percent is a low number in general, first of all,” Smith-Benanti said, adding that people tend not to report threats. “But it probably applies anecdotally (to the UO). I can think of a lot of students who’ve been threatened physically or verbally.”

4. Most respondents said the top priority for policy issues is equal employment rights – not equal marriage rights.

Smith-Benanti says that for college students in general, marriage may not be as relevant. “I’ve noticed that LGBTQ students are more concerned with employment nondiscrimination, but also with things like youth homelessness. Sometimes they’re frustrated with the (national) LGTBQ focus on marriage equality, because they feel like there’s more pressing issues.”

5. While 51 percent of Americans favor marriage for LGBTQ individuals, 35 percent of Americans think that raising children is a bad thing.

“It wouldn’t surprise me if people still have an issue with LGBTQ parents raising kids,” Smith-Benanti said, in part because of deeply-held religious beliefs and fear of the unknown. “I do hear a lot of UO students who are concerned that children of LGBTQ parents might get bullied in school.”

Overall, Smith-Benanti is positive about the outlook of the LGBTQ community.

“I’m pretty happy the way that things are evolving,” Smith-Benanti said. “It seems to be that the LGBTQ community and especially the students that I work with are really working to make the community better.”

Mary Beth Tinker, who won a First Amendment case in the US Supreme Court, spoke at the UO School of Journalism and Communication Thursday afternoon.

Tinker has been traveling around the country speaking to young people about their rights.

“Students love the message, that, yes, the First Amendment is for you too,” Tinker said.

In 1969, after a four-year U.S. Supreme Court case, Tinker won a landmark case that is still referenced as legal precedent today. In December 1965, the 13-year-old junior high school student was suspended for wearing a black armband in protest of the Vietnam War, along with a handful of other students and pursued the case. The court held that the First Amendment rights extended into the public school territory, allowing for a broader freedom of expression for students.

Until the day she decided to wear an armband to school in protest, Tinker said she was very shy. Her father, a preacher who spoke up about a segregated swimming pool, was socially ostracized as a result. He eventually played an important role in encouraging her to take action about her feelings on the war.

There have been three other main cases that followed Tinker revolving around a students and their right to free speech. Still, Tinker believes students are limited in their freedoms.

“There’s so many ways that the rights of students have been cut back,” Tinker said.

Taylor’s Bar and Grill teamed up with local band Wade Graham to host a fundraiser Tuesday for local joke-book vendor David Henry Miller, better known as Frog.

“It’s great a lot of people were concerned about me,” said Miller, who had been in the hospital earlier in the day. Miller was admitted to PeaceHealth Sacred Heart Medical Center on Feb. 23 with heart issues.

The benefit featured live music by local bands Wade Graham, Explode-A-Tron, Hyding Jekyll and Toxic Witch who donated their services for the event. Proceeds from the $2 cover fee and $1 from every drink will go to help Frog offset the recent medical costs. 

Gina Clark, the organizer of the event, said she felt it was necessary because the “Eugene community takes care of itself.” Clark set up an account with Oregon Community Credit Union to collect funds for Frog’s medical bills.

“I went to the U of O 10 years ago and Frog was kind of a staple,” Clark said. She reached out to Taylor’s and the bands, as well as Oregon Country Fair members who helped publicize the event.

Greg Gillispie, a band member of Hyding Jekyll, said that the event was an opportunity to not only play at a great venue but support a great cause. Gillispie has lived in Eugene for about 10 years, and in playing at the Eugene Saturday Market where Miller is known to sell his joke books, he’s become something of a Frog fan.

The event, Gillispie said, was a success. ”For a Tuesday of finals week, after St. Patrick’s Day, we’re doing pretty well.”

Jordan Tichenor contributed to this story.

Mohammed Al Ghamdi, a Muslim student studying abroad through UO’s American English Institute, usually prays in his classrooms on the breaks between classes.

Al Ghamdi’s ten minute breaks don’t give him enough time to get to Agate Hall, where a space is reserved for AEI students. As a solution, his instructors allow him to extend the breaks to fifteen minutes to fulfill his religious duties.

Many Muslims at the UO pray five times a day as part of their religious obligations. They often complete a couple of their daily prayers on campus, in the library or the EMU Ballroom. Some go to the Wesley Foundation Campus Ministry next to the DuckStore that has provided a prayer space which Muslim Student Association President Abdalla Aldhefairi said accommodates about 15 students.

Aldhefairi estimates that about 1,200 Muslim students currently attend the UO.

For many praying in class may not be an option and finding a prayer space has been an issue.

The EMU renovation layout includes a non-denominational meditation room that will accommodate about 20 students. Until the EMU’s completion in the summer of 2016, however, students have a few options.

The University has recently offered interim spaces. There are spaces in Agate Hall for AEI and linguistics students, in Mills International Center and in the adjoining art gallery. A fourth space will open spring term in Mac Court — which is now called EMU South.

Abe Schafermeyer, director of International Student and Scholar Services, said that he and other administrators have seen and heard the student need for a meditative space. They have worked with various student groups for over three years to address the issue.

“The spirituality of a student is part of the student experience,” Schafermeyer said. “And we as an institution need to be committed to provide space for that to happen.”

MSA Vice President Sabeen Waqar said the current group has been trying for over a year and a half to secure a suitable space. “We worked with Schafermeyer for over a year,” Waqar said. “We also worked with ASUO President Sam (Dotters-Katz) … He tried to help us, but said there’s no space available on campus, and he couldn’t do anything about that.”

In fall term, the UO offered up the spaces in Mill’s International Center and in the art gallery, but they were not suitable for the MSA.

“It’s not accommodating our needs,” Waqar said. “[Mill’s] is a social place where there’s always music and no privacy.”

Schafermeyer recognized the limitations as well.

“One of the concerns was that (space) just in the EMU wasn’t enough,” Schafermeyer said. “Students have classes far from the EMU… it would be prohibitive for them to come to the Union and then go back to class.”

Several administrators, including Vice President for Student Affairs Robin Holmes and Dean of Students Paul Shang, held public meetings this term with interested students. In February, the UO finalized a solution that would suit the needs of the students — a 500 square foot space estimated to accommodate about 25 people.

“This is a lot better than what we had before, which was nothing,” Waqar said. “We’re really happy about that.”

Sexual Assault Support Services of Lane County offers a variety of useful services for survivors of sexual assault and abuse who are seeking help and guidance. This spring, SASS’s support group coordinator Jessica Mason plans to form a male-identified support group, which is specially focused on survivors who are 18 and older.

SASS began incorporating male-identified survivors of sexual assault into their support group program a few years ago, according to Mason, but the program has temporarily not been offered.

“It’s one of the projects that I’ve tried really hard to get going,” Mason said.

Like SASS’s services in general, the support groups are free, totally confidential, and staff members are not mandatory reporters. The no-pressure environment allows a safe space for survivors to connect, and Mason says each group is tailored to the unique requests and needs of the members.

“I think that if there were more resources, more would come forward,” Mason said. “My goal is to let the community know that we’re accessible for all survivors.”

Mason is currently forming the new male-identified group, which is scheduled to begin around the first week of April. Additionally, SASS will be starting a gender-inclusive drop-in support group, meeting the first Wednesday of the month, starting in June. Anyone who is interested in any SASS group should contact Mason: supportgroup.sass@sass-lane.org.

When Chinese student Steve Xu came to the University of Oregon, he felt proud of his Chinese culture. “My mom sent me here to get a better education,” Xu said.

But this academic sentiment may get overshadowed by other perceptions of UO’s Chinese student demographic; namely, the idea that they may be wealthy. The buying practices and presence of luxury cars on campus, some of which are driven by Chinese international students, can lead some of UO’s domestic community to make assumptions about the population as a whole.

Xu said some domestic students might make assumptions based on what they see.“(If I were an American student), if I saw a really good car drive by, I would think about who gave you the money, and why you drive those kind of cars,” Xu said. “But I would also think it is kind of not my business.”

Yawei Zhang, the president of the UO’s Chinese Student and Scholar Association, also feels that Chinese students may be perceived as big spenders above all, whether or not it gives an accurate and complete picture.

Tiffany Han, a senior at the UO, has been working at the American Apparel store on 13th Avenue for almost a year. The clientele, she notices, is demographically heavy with Asian students.

“Whenever I’m here working, out of five people, two or three of our customers are international students, and primarily Asian,” Han said. Han bases this estimate on listening to accents — being Chinese herself, she recognizes many of the store’s customers speaking Mandarin.

From her observation, prices at American Apparel tend to be more of a deterrent for domestic students than for international students.

“We’ve noticed a trend,” Han said, “that quite often, (Asian international students) make bigger purchases.” She says that “bigger purchases,” defined as upward of $100, are not rare given American Apparel’s pricing, but are more common for Asian international students than for the domestic group.

“They’ve got money to spend, and they spend it here,” Han said.

After three years at the UO, Han says domestic students’ perspective on Chinese international students is generally negative, fixating primarily on the apparent financial differences between the two. But the disparity, she says, doesn’t interfere with or impact her life.

The base of international students is ever-changing, impacting who and what UO students see around campus. The University has seen a consistent increase in Chinese students in recent years, with China being the University’s top country of exchange for the last several years.

According to data from the Office of International Affairs, for the 2013-14 academic year, 1852 students attending UO are citizens of the People’s Republic of China — that’s 63.3 percent of the international student population.

In comparison to previous years, there were 955 Chinese students at the UO in 2011-12 — about half as many as this year. These numbers indicate that between 2011 and 2014, the percentage of international students who are Chinese has increased 15.9 percent.

Zhang says in doing his own research, about 10 percent of the Chinese student population buys luxury items. He estimates that most Chinese students who own cars make purchases in the $30,000-range, not the luxury range.

“And after graduation, they sell (the cars) again,” he said. “And I know a lot of people, they don’t have cars. They just ride the bus.”

Zhang thinks the community has been misrepresented because of a relatively small number of students’ ostentatious purchases. He estimates only a dozen or so luxury cars are actually driven by Chinese students, but because these cars are more rare in a small town like Eugene than, say, San Francisco or Los Angeles, they get more attention.

“It’s just … (a few) people who want to spend money … this is just individual people, not everyone,” Zhang said. “I mean, I love Ferrari, but I can’t afford it,” Zhang said.

Zhang drives a used 2002 Ford Fusion. He’s still paying off his car loan. 

Some people, Zhang feels, may not fully understand the financial situation of many Chinese students. “There’s little chance for financial aid or jobs because of the Visa,” Zhang said. “We can’t get any full-time (work) or work study. It’s so hard.”

This lack of opportunity can contribute to hardship for many students. The majority of Chinese students, Zhang says, are studious and don’t live a lavish lifestyle. “I know a lot of people. They’re crying for the tuition (increase), … the international fees …” Zhang said. “People like me, they’re studying hard. I’m staying at home, so (most people) don’t see me.”

University of Oregon Women and Gender Studies Professor Carol Stabile gets a certain look in her eyes when she talks about sexual assault on campus. Behind her playful cat-eye glasses, her eyes take on a troubled stare as she recalls the people — weighed down by traumatic experiences — who came to her for help.

When Stabile thinks students is about to disclose an incident, she stops them, saying: “You know I’m a mandated reporter, right?”

Some faculty feel that more could be done than just following the administrative rules that require reporting sexual discrimination. Stabile quoted a colleague saying: “How many times can you sit in a room with a student and all you can do is push a box of tissues across a table?”

To do more to combat the prevalence of sexual assault, Stabile and other UO faculty, staff and students formed an independent coalition. The UO Coalition to End Sexual Violence announced its inception on Feb. 11.

Jennifer Freyd, a UO psychology professor and coalition member, says an increased national awareness of campus assaults has had an influence on the coalition’s formation.

“The time is ripe to do something about it,” Freyd said. “We’ve got the research and we’ve got the awareness.”

Freyd’s interest in the issue stems from personal research and the stories she’s heard over the 26 years she has held her position. Freyd’s recent studies put numbers and stats in a local context.

“Our best guess about sexual assault here at UO is (that the rates are) at least as high as what’s been found nationally,” Freyd said. “My sense is that the magnitude of the problem is so much greater than the resources allocated assume.”

The coalition seeks greater transparency of the UO’s statistics on sexual violence and improvement of the reporting process in hopes of making the campus community more supportive of survivors. The coalition plans to rely on research and examine the best practices to prevent assault by investigating how other institutions address the issue.

Freyd believes that institutions will benefit from being publicly honest and making improvements over the long run. “I want Oregon to be — 10 years from now — perceived as a leader in this area and a place that students come to because it is safe and healthy,” Freyd said.

Lisbet Rivas, a junior and member of the ASUO Women’s Center, said this new group and its research could help raise awareness, but since it’s still in its inaugural phases she can’t be entirely sure.

“If it goes well… it could be a great thing,”  Rivas said. “But it could also be harmful — it depends on who’s running it — if they have facts that aren’t correct.”

The coalition is on Twitter @UOCoalition.

The EMU Ballroom was buzzing with the chatter of an anticipatory crowd minutes before controversial activist Lierre Keith took to the podium at the Public Information Environmental Law Conference on Thursday, Feb. 28.

Attendees were required to check their bags before entering, and security and police forces were standing by throughout all parts of the EMU Ballroom. Regardless of strong police preparation in case of a violent of rowdy demonstration, the event remained calm for all but for a quiet walkout during Keith’s performance and a rally in the EMU amphitheater.

“We haven’t had any problems so far,” Mike Schueller, manager of Starplex Crowd Management said. “Nobody has made any effort to act out in some sort of curious way. We’re just taking the necessary precautions for an event that gets this type of attention.”

According to Schueller, there were over 1,000 emails sent to the university prior to the event regarding Keith’s presence at the University of Oregon School of Law’s 32nd-annual PIELC. Though the conference was about environmental law, Keith has been a controversial figure for her views on trans people and labeled by some as “trans-phobic,” which stirred protests among LGTBQ community and others.

Before the event, protesters passed out fliers in the Ballroom just outside the auditorium’s doors. When Keith took the podium, there was only one “boo” from the crowd, but as she began her keynote speech, throngs of people got up and walked out. From the ballroom, the procession moved to the EMU Amphitheater.

People congregated in front of a lone protestor, sitting atop a constructed tripod, high above the gathering. A banner below her read, “Students Love Inclusion.”

Many in the group of protesters — comprised mostly of LGBTQA groups, the Survival Center and Cascadia Forest Defenders— had previously petitioned the ASUO senate not to allow Keith to speak.

UO senior and Survival Center member Paige Corich-Kleim helped organized the protest rally. She was pleased with how the protest efforts went.

“This is the start of a bigger mission of making spaces more trans-inclusive,” Corich-Kleim said. “(Lierre Keith) is still talking and people are still listening to her.”

The group led chants like “Hey hey, ho ho, Lierre Keith has got to go,” and “We’re here, we’re queer and we’re not going anywhere,” from the Amphitheater while the author spoke within the EMU.