FAIR Fund Honors Dru Sjodin and launch the Dru Campaign
Visit our Dru Campaign web site at: www.drucampaign.org
In November 2003, University of North Dakota senior Dru Sjodin was kidnapped from a local mall parking lot after her shift ended at work. Her abductor, Alfonso Rodriguez Jr., was a three-time convicted sex offender. He sexually assualted and killed Dru. She was only 22 years old.
Dru Sjodin is remembered by all as someone who loved life, and lived every day to its fullest. Active in campus life, she was a member of Gamma Phi Beta sorority, and took the time to volunteer with the local chapter of the Clothesline Project. An aspiring artist studying graphic design, Dru was embarking on a new stage of her life, full of potential.
What happened to Dru Sjodin can happen to any woman.
Among college students nationwide, between 20% and 25% report experiencing attempted or completed rape. That means that we all know and live with women living in silence about their experiences. The vast majority of these incidents, up to 75%, are committed by individuals known to the victim – acquaintances, family members, or intimate partners. And rape remains one of the most underreported crimes in our society, with only 1 out of every 10 reported to police.
Join the Dru Campaign to stop sexual assault on college campuses!
FAIR Fund believes that it is crucial for young women to play an active role in the fight against gender violence, and be part of the solution to a problem that burdens too many of us. The Dru Campaign is a nationwide effort to increase awareness on college campuses about sexual assault and other forms of gender-based violence. It is crucial that the voices and ideas of young women who wish to help prevent violence against their peers be heard and implemented.
2006/2007 Dru Campaign goals:
Campus Response Grade: a national student endeavor to grade and report the real life consquences of campus policies in sexual assault reporting. Through this campaign, the Dru Campaign staff and student volunteers will reach out to campus activists to train them in effective social marketing, lobbying, and outreach skills to change or strengthen existing campus programs.
The Dru Award
The Dru Campaign Award supports campus activism of young women and men enrolled in higher education in their efforts to combat gender-based violence on their campuses and in their community. This award will be given to those with the most creative and well-planned ideas. Each award winner will be given a chance to implement their idea and share their progress and results online with other campus activists around the country. Each idea will be available online through the Dru Campaign Activism Tool Kit so that campus leaders can build on one another's successes. The Dru Campaign scholarship winners will contribute to preventing gender-based violence or assisting survivors.
Who Can Apply: All individuals enrolled in higher education, including high school seniors graduating and continuing on to higher education institutions the following year. We highly encourage women from all backgrounds and regions to apply.
Amount of Award: $1500 to each awardee and in-depth support from the Dru Campaign team at FAIR Fund
Deadlines:
Fall 2006: Oct. 1, 2006, decisions on Oct. 15, 2006
Winter/Spring 2007: Feb. 1, 2007, decisions on February 15, 2007
How to Apply: Please fill out the online application. Your application will be reviewed by the Dru Campaign team. Any questions should be addressed to Makiko Hotoda at drucampaign@fairfund.org.
- Award Amount: $1500, two individuals per semester in 2006
- Who Should Apply: All students enrolled in higher education who are committed to ending gender violence through creative, effective, and lasting projects on their campuses and their communities.
Project Example: Joanna from the University of Texas wanted local freshman girls, who are statistically much more likely to become victims of date rape, to have information about sexual assault hotlines and medical services. She knew that a pamphlet almost always gets discarded. But, if she could buy lipstick holders that have the information printed on stickers on the inside of the container, it would be a discreet way for incoming freshman to have the information on hand at all times. She only needed 1,000 dollars for the first 2,000 lipstick containers and hoped to get a donation of 2,000 more. And, the paper and printing was only a few hundred dollars as well. Her project would be perfect for the Dru Award. It’s simple, effective, and easily duplicated on other campuses if the idea works well.
Learn more about other Campus Programs to prevent sexual assault:
GiRL FeST Hawaii Our mission is to change peer culture in order to prevent increasing violence against women and girls through education, entertainment and positive representation of women. According to the Domestic Violence Clearing House and Legal Hotline, one out of every two girls under the age of eighteen in Hawaii either has been or knows of another girl who has been physically abused. One out of five has been sexually assaulted. These girls more often than not do not seek help or call hotlines or tell their parents. They ask their friends for help, friends who are not equipped to handle situations such as abuse. Girl Fest will expose young women to positive role models, encouragement, and more choices on how to avoid violent relationships and occurrences. This is an event to educate the community to prevent the rise in violence.
STUDENTS ACTIVE FOR ENDING RAPE (SAFER)
Students Active For Ending Rape (SAFER) is a national non-profit organization committed to empowering students to hold colleges accountable for sexual assault in their on and off campus communities. It achieves its goals by training students in effective organizing tactics and challenging them to examine the overlapping links between sexual assault and all forms of individual and institutional violence.
SECURITY ON CAMPUS, INC.
Security On Campus, Inc. is a non-profit grassroots organization dedicated to safe campuses for college and university students. It was co-founded in 1987 by Connie & Howard Clery, following the murder of their daughter at Lehigh University. Jeanne Clery was a freshman when she was beaten, raped and murdered in her dormitory room on April 5, 1986. The site contains extensive information regarding safety on college and university campuses, with resources for activists and peer-advocates.
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