More than 600 people were on hand Monday for the fourth annual Let’s End Campus Sexual Assault summit in Kalamazoo.
The host, Michigan’s First Lady, Sue Snyder, has made it her goal to put an end to sexual assault on campus. She started a yearly summit four years ago to discuss and push for a solution.
“I just said we’ve got to move forward, we’ve got to do something about this this,” says Snyder, “It is just awful and everybody doesn’t want to talk about it, they want to sweep it under the rug.”
Joined by her daughter Kelsey and the Governor, the First Family is stressing this is necessary for all to buy in, men, women, educators and even high schoolers.
“You’re hopefully not a person involved in a sexual assault in some fashion but you can be a role model for people who are part of your network and help educate them as to why this is wrong,” says Governor Rick Snyder, “To watch out for those signs that somebody can be on the path to doing something that’s wrong and help intervene.”
Sexual assault issues stretch far past campus lines but attacking it early in life, when people are maturing, may set an expectation for the rest of your life.
“People will be graduating to be going off into the general world in some fashion, hopefully they’re going to continue being a role model,” says Gov. Snyder.
A message at the summit repeated often was believing the survivors.
“We all know it’s one of the most unreported crimes there is but we’re trying to change that by making it a better process for victims,” says Ferris State Police Director Bruce Borkovich, “Try to make them comfortable with coming forward.”
Governor Snyder believes this annual summit is a first of its kind and another key piece to the legacy his family hopes to leave behind after his governorship.
“We should be proud than Michigan can be role models for the rest of the country and I hope including our federal government,” says the Governor.
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