Twenty-five years ago, MSU formed one of the first on-campus sexual assault programs in the country.
The program was started by students wanting to respond to sexual assault on campus, said Carmen Lane, the advocacy coordinator for the Sexual Assault Crisis & Safety Education Program.
A room full of about 40 volunteers, university, local officials, and past and present coordinators celebrated the 25th anniversary of the program on Tuesday.
Although the program has grown in many ways, such as having more full-time staff positions, the core values of the program have remained the same, Lane said.
"Student volunteers are the core of who we are," she said. "As much as we change and grow, that core has to stay the same."
The people who do this type of counseling must have a passion for it because it is not easy, Lane said.
These volunteers put a lot of time in and strive for change, said Holly Klaft, a journalism junior and volunteer with MSU's Sexual Assault Crisis Intervention Team.
"Volunteers are passionate people who want to change things on campus, change things in society and change things with rape culture," said Klaft, who is also a State News freelancer.
Since Denise Maybank, associate vice president for Student Affairs and Services, was an intern in the MSU Counseling Center in 1990, she said she has seen the sexual assault program grow dramatically.
"When you have a program like this, you can attract people and get expertise to extend what the program can offer," she said.
On Tuesday, the people who have worked with the program were recognized.
The event included refreshments, an awards ceremony, a speech from author Lori Robinson and an open-mic session for poetry reading.
"It is celebrating the individuals that put in their time and effort," said Katie Knauf, president of the Sexual Assault Crisis Intervention Team. "It's encouraging to see where the program came from and where it is going, so members can see it's not static."
Every Five Minutes, or e5m, a social action theater troupe that works to promote sexual assault awareness, had its first performance at the ceremony. The group was formed this semester by graduate student Staci Gunner.
Gunner's experiences as an assistant hall director and hearing about numerous sexual assaults on campus sparked her idea to form the group.
"This was the emergency button that I had to do something," she said.
The troupe will perform around the East Lansing community, in residence halls and other places across campus. Because the troupe is new and still growing, Tuesday's performance was only the reading of a poem.
"With the celebration tonight and the open mic, it gives us a chance to give a piece of who we are," Gunner said.
But one of the most important parts of the ceremony was the awards ceremony, said Shari Murgittroyd, coordinator of the Sexual Assault Crisis & Safety Education Program.
"The number of individuals involved that have touched so many people is amazing," she said. "They deserve recognition."
