SAC Club raises awareness of social issues

Six years ago, when Dr. Melinda Roberts, assistant professor of criminal justice, began her career at USI, she also became the faculty advisor for the Sociology, Anthropology and Criminal Justice Club (SAC). The membership of the club at that time was three students. But times have changed and SAC membership now averages between 50 to 60 students. The growth of SAC is primarily due to members spreading the word to others with the same major. Roberts, who had been advising the club on her own, recently added Dr. Steve Williams, associate professor of sociology and Dan Bauer, assistant professor of anthropology to the masthead.

SAC allows students to take the knowledge gained in the classroom and put it to use serving the community. Each year, the group chooses an organization to support. This year the team selected Willow Tree of Posey County, a domestic violence and sexual assault advocacy center. Students set up booths at River Days in Posey County and Kunstfest in New Harmony to sell food as a fundraiser.

In addition, SAC students take field trips to correctional facilities, join police officers in ride-alongs and visit archeological sites, including a visit to Cahokia Mounds, an ancient city from 1250 A.D., located just outside St. Louis, Missouri, from 1250 A.D. "They travel to places within their field of study, so they get more insight and education," said Roberts.

Every month or two the students have faculty guest speakers come to the meetings to share research they're working on. "That's really interesting for the students because they don't necessarily know what we do outside of the classroom," said Roberts. "They get to know the professors better, get to know what we're doing and work on research and things they might not otherwise have known about."

On campus, SAC organizes events that bring awareness to vital issues like domestic violence, sexual assault and rape, and gender inequality. Recently, students collaborated with Albion Fellows Bacon Center, a non-profit organization, whose mission is to eliminate domestic and sexual violence, and the USI Sexual Assault and Gender Violence Prevention Group to present Flowers on the Lake, a nationally recognized event honoring the survivors and victims of domestic violence, on October 16.

As part of the project, students also wrote grants to pay for silhouettes seen in various locations around campus as part of the Silent Witness program. The life-size cardboard silhouettes of adults and children who have lost their lives in an intimate partner homicide in Indiana include each person's story found on a badge attached to the silhouette.

The SAC Club has won the Campus Collaboration Award two years in a row for its work with Albion Fellows Bacon Center for the highly successful, Walk a Mile in Her Shoes, a men's march to raise awareness of rape, sexual assault and gender violence. SAC works with fraternities, Student Government Association, Psychology Club, USI Rugby Team and dignitaries in the community. Men gather and march in high heels to literally put themselves in a woman's shoes. "The purpose of the walk is to engage men and combine the community and the campus," said Roberts. "We know men are secondary victims because all of these women who are abused have friends and family who are male, so they are victimized as well. Violence is all about power and control, and men can help change that dynamic." The turnout last year was so big that the group ran out of high heels and wrote a grant to get more.

The partnership with Albion has been mutually beneficial and has netted students internships as well as providing Albion with much needed volunteers and support.

Dealing with emotional issues can take a toll, but the group has found ways to cut loose and have fun. Every year groups of students gather on the quad to challenge faculty and staff to a good old fashioned field day. Teams of five go head to head in tug of war, water balloon toss, three-legged racing, bobbing for apples and of course a sack race. The next SAC Field Day will be held during the spring semester and will be a tie breaking challenge. Currently, faculty/staff have two wins and students have two. The winning team receives a traveling trophy that gives them bragging rights until the trophy is back up for grabs the following year.

An unlikely coveted prize is given to the losing team, the "sad sack." The prize, a battered old paper bag scrawled with clever and funny taunts has been in circulation for the past five years and is filled with trash from the event. Any USI employee is welcome to join the challenge with a five dollar fee, which goes into a fund for the club.

Roberts says her involvement with the SAC Club is exceptionally rewarding. "This is one of those University services that doesn't feel like work for me. I get excited when I get to meet with the students. To see their intellect and passion go toward community building and activism, I can see that fire and I really like that."

SAC Club meetings are every other Friday at 2 p.m. in the Liberal Arts Center, room 1010, with the next meeting on November 7.