What the men have to say: Male students stand united against sex assault

By Jonathan McFadden
mcfaddenj@mytjnow.com

(From left) Brandon Thomas, Richard Ryan and Osman Ali explain the purpose and design of Men Can Stop Rape during CSL’s Monday night meeting. Members of CSL voted unanimously to charter Men Can Stop Rape as a campus organization. Photo by Claire VanOstenbridge • vanostenbridgec@mytjnow.com(From left) Brandon Thomas, Richard Ryan and Osman Ali explain the purpose and design of Men Can Stop Rape during CSL’s Monday night meeting. Members of CSL voted unanimously to charter Men Can Stop Rape as a campus organization. Photo by Claire VanOstenbridge • vanostenbridgec@mytjnow.comMen can stop rape.

That’s the message 12 male students are working to get across to their fellow male counterparts at Winthrop.

Moreover, it’s the name of a new student organization seeking to hold other males accountable for responsible and healthy relations towards women, and promoting a positive outlook on men, members say.

“Men have a voice and men can be a strong factor in influencing other males not to commit sexual violence,” said Brandon Thomas, a graduate student studying sports fitness administration and the organization’s president. “It’s one thing to have women fighting sexual violence but when you get the male perspective on stopping rape and sexual violence, I think it’s that much stronger and that much better.”

For junior sports management major Richard Ryan, the group is not about bashing or blaming males for sexual violence but instead to “support men in our efforts to promote healthier behaviors towards women and ourselves.”

Gender equity is also paramount, said Ryan, the group’s co-president, who added that the organization wants to support the women who are “fighting the same battle that we are.”

As a member of the Greek community, Ryan said there’s a stereotype tagged onto members of fraternities and the way they treat women. 

His goal: Change it.

“We want to promote a healthy lifestyle within ourselves so we don’t have that stigma,” Ryan said. “We’re not who you think we are.”

As a community of men, the organization wants to hold each other accountable, bolster membership and “hold a united front against sexual violence,” Ryan said.

For Osman Ali, a senior political science major and organization treasurer, attending a program for Greek organizations last year “opened his eyes” to images about male stereotypes and sparked in him a passion for encouraging other men to be aware of sexual violence.

Thomas, on the other hand, found his motivation a little more academically. 

When Sean Blackburn, assistant dean of students, and Carrie Morphis, victim services coordinator, decided that the campus lacked a “male perspective on sexual assault,” Thomas said they decided to create an “offspring” group of WAR (Women Against Rape).

At the same time, Thomas was taking a human sexuality class and, as a grad student, had to conduct a community service project.

So when Blackburn approached him about helping out with the group, he jumped at the opporutnity. 

Months later, he’s found approval and support from like-minded male students -- many of them steeped in the Greek community.

He found one of his biggest supporters, though, on the home front.

After telling his mother about the organization, he said she was “head over heels” about the idea. 

“It’s rare to see men holding other men accountable for sexual assault,” Thomas said his mother told him. 

Adult men aren’t their only targets. Men Can Stop Rape also wants to reach a younger demographic. 

“We want to do everything we can to support WAR but we also want to put on forums and talk to the younger kids and let them know early in life that sexual violence is out there and you need to control yourselves,” Thomas said.

In March, Men Can Stop Rape will be working with the Winthrop Eagles track team and office of victim services to organize a 5K run to promote sexual assault awareness.

Men Can Stop Rape will meet during common time in the DiGiorgio Campus Center Room 204 every other Tuesday.