It's On the PSAC
Lock Haven, Pa. - As part of the annual Spring PSAC Student-Athlete Advisory Committee meeting held on the campus of Lock Haven University, student-athletes from around the league participated in the creation of an "It's On Us" public service announcement.
It's On Us is a national campaign sponsored by Generation Progress with the support from the White House, Mekanism, and PVBLIC Foundation. The campaign has developed partnerships with the NCAA and Division I and II conferences, while also associating with nationally-recognized companies such as Microsoft, iHeart Media, EA Sports, the United States Olympic Committee, as well as television networks BET, CMT, MTV, VH-1 and Spike.
It’s On Us is a cultural movement aimed at fundamentally shifting the way people think and talk about sexual assault. The campaign’s theme is a rallying cry inviting everyone to step up and realize that the solution begins with us. It’s a declaration that sexual assault isn’t just an issue involving a victim and a perpetrator, but one in which the rest of us have a role to play. The initiative was established to reframe sexual assault in a way that inspires everyone to see it as their responsibility to do something, big or small to prevent it.
The student-athletes present at the annual PSAC SAAC meeting collaborated together to write the video’s script after spending the day learning from George Mason Associate Athletic Director for Academic Services Dr. Debbie Wilson, who was the primary author of the official NCAA
Addressing Sexual Assault and Interpersonal Violence publication written to provide NCAA institutions with the tools to address sexual assault and interpersonal violence in their departments and on their campuses. Shippensburg University Women's Resource Center Director Stephanie Erdice also provided the student-athletes with bystander intervention training and led an in depth discussion about the It's On Us pledge.
The PSAC student-athletes featured in the video are Clarion’s Emilee Gysegem, Edinboro’s Staci Schrecongost, East Stroudsburg’s Erin Gloor, Gannon’s Chris Pike, Millersville’s Kevin Bohl, Bloomsburg’s Peyton Shockley, Mansfield’s Courtney Wilson, IUP’s Porter Mitchell, Kutztown’s Devonte King, California’s Danielle Hayes, Mansfield’s Tiana Jackson, IUP’s Kaitlyn Palmer, Seton Hill’s Meghan Mastroianni, Shippensburg’s Jennifer Flinchbaugh, Cheyney’s Dominic Barr, Shippensburg’s Stefan Szilagyi, West Chester’s Alex Caplan, Bloomsburg’s Colby Baker, East Stroudsburg’s Eric Howey, Clarion’s Wade Reichelderfer, Lock Haven’s Damien Chisholm, Edinboro’s Dylan Cerroni, Cheyney’s Brendyn Van Demark, Seton Hill’s Christian Carter, Slippery Rock’s Kristen Smith, West Chester’s Maddy Shaak, California’s Cory Kuzilla, Pitt-Johnstown’s Nick Pasquella, Mercyhurst’s Jessica Bell, Millersville’s Abby Spanos, Mercyhurst’s Andrea Goldbach, Gannon’s Nick Bengal, Slippery Rock’s Dean Ketterer, Kutztown’s Natalya Lee, East Stroudsburg’s Madison Reichard, and Lock Haven’s Jack Felt.
PSAC It’s On Us Script
In the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference,
It’s on us.
All of us.
To stop sexual assault.
We are 18 NCAA Division II institutions.
Comprised of 7,000 student-athletes.
More than 125,000 students.
It’s our responsibility.
To get in the way before it happens.
To get a friend home safe.
Anyone can be a victim.
Everyone can be a solution.
It’s on us. (x3)
So let’s do something.
Step up.
And make sexual assault unacceptable.
It’s on me. (x3)
It’s on you.
It’s on us. (x3)
18 schools.
One conference.
This is the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference.
Passion.
Pride.
Pennsylvania.
It’s on us to end sexual assault.
It’s on us.