As colleges sit in the Red Zone on college campuses, the Residence Life department at Lakeland highlights the importance of consent and sexual health through multiple speakers in their Ben and Jerry’s in your Pajamas program. This program also spotlights how Title IX and Lakeland’s Title IX Coordinator Jonathan Feld play a huge role in the safety of Lakeland’s campus.
The Red Zone
We are in the Red Zone, a time in the academic year that sees high reporting of sexual assault cases on college campuses. The Red Zone consists of the time between August move in and Thanksgiving break.
During this time period, more than 50% of college sexual assaults occur in August, September, October or November. First year females are most vulnerable to this statistic; this can be seen in the fact that college women are more likely to experience sexual violence repeatedly than they are of other forms of physical violence.
BJ’s in your PJs
Residence Life will host their annual Ben and Jerry’s in your Pajamas program on Thursday, Oct. 23, from 6-7 p.m. to highlight consent, sexual health and resources on and off the Lakeland University campus. BJs in your PJs uses campus resources like Counseling, Wellness Center, Safe Harbor and Anchor of Hope to provide students with a multitude of resources.
Director of Residence Life, Troy Seehafer, sat down to discuss the history and importance of Ben and Jerry’s in your Pajamas. Seehafer recapped that the first BJ’s in your PJs was hosted in 2019, taking a break in 2020 due to COVID-19 and has been an annual affair since 2021. Seehafer also touched on what BJ’s in your PJs means to Lakeland and its students. He says, “Consent matters” and “Sexual assault should never happen, so we try to bring awareness early and try to prevent sexual assault from occurring if possible… We talk about what consent means and what a healthy relationship means.” He added on what it means to educate on consent and how to help educate potential victims of sexual assault with, “I think more than just educating the people on consent, it’s more about educating people that could potentially be the victim of sexual assault to know what consent looks like, so they know that they have potentially been a victim.”
The BJs in your PJs event features personal Ben and Jerry’s pints and free BJs in your PJs branded t-shirts for the first 100 students in attendance.
Title IX Coordinator, Jonathan Feld
As a man of many roles at Lakeland University, Jonathan Feld takes pride in being the Title IX Coordinator here at Lakeland. Providing an individual on campus that will take Title IX seriously is key to bringing safety to a college campus, and Jonathan does just that. Feld has been working with a group of students to start a Title IX prevention campaign, looking to eliminate cases before they start.
Feld recapped his journey to Lakeland; he previously worked at a Technical College in Wisconsin for over 15 years. As part of his role there, he worked with over 40 universities, so he knew about Lakeland before an opportunity arose. At the time, he didn’t intend to switch to a new college, but if he did, he knew it needed to be a specific type of university. Lakeland checked all the boxes. He enjoyed working in 2-year college settings and with these students. Feld already had experience in specific roles, but Lakeland gave him opportunities for new experience.
As forementioned, Feld holds many roles on campus including Vice President of Student Affairs and Enrollment Management. In this role he has influence over marketing, oversees student recruiting and admissions. He also oversees Student Life and all aspects of campus life, student wellness, Residence Life, Campus Safety and advising. Much of his advising works with First Year Experience in a greater extension and non-traditional student advising. He also oversees all centers across Wisconsin and consulting with the Lakeland University-Japan Campus, meeting with them multiple times a week, on all previously listed areas as well as overseeing study abroad!
Feld explained, “I’ve held this role for over a year and a half. Title IX is simultaneously a law and a set of processes.” The law part is relatively straight forward. The Title IX stature says, “No person in the United States shall, ono the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving federal financial assistance.” While it is commonly thought of as sexual assault is Title IX, it also requires balanced male and female athletic opportunities.
When an incident occurs that is thought to fall in the Title IX realm, Title IX Coordinator ensures first, any involved parties are safe and informed. From there, information is used to empower the parties involved. Feld, and all Title IX Coordinators, understand that the parties steer where the process is taken. Feld is firm in doing everything he can to make it clear that his role is not to judge anyone. The role of Title IX Coordinator is to help students, provide all involved students with the resources and support they need and, to any extent possible, empower students in the process. Feld highlights that his job is not to push anyone to a specific outcome, but to outline the steps in a process and let the student choose where the process is taken and provide support in their choice.
When asked about why being the Title IX Coordinator for Lakeland is important to him, Feld says, “I have believed for a long time that education is the equalizer and elevator of humanity. No one can take your education away from you, but you must first have the opportunity.” He added that “Education is creating opportunities and opening doors; Title IX protects that.”
One of the only times that an institution steps in and overrides student choice or direction is if the institution determines that the situation may involve great or widespread impact. Otherwise, Title IX Coordinator is to lay out options, steps, process, and let the student decide which option they want to take next. Including the option I don’t want to take the next step.
While he is busy on campus, Feld says that any student run event involving any sexual assault related topics, he is willing to attend, speak at and make it known to every student that he is here and there are resources. Anonymous reporting is an option! In his efforts to break statistics in non-reporting victims, Feld is working on a campus wide training that will expand much further than what Lakeland has done before. With a twofold desired outcome, the campaign will bring a sense of transparency to these issues, making it easier to talk about and change culture. Feld says, “Think global, act local” is the motivator in this campaign.
When asked about the campaign specifics, Feld says, “I have been working on it behind the scenes. One of the biggest things is that this doesn’t come from me, it comes from students and from the campus as a whole. By students, for students.” Feld is on the search for more people on this project to greater embrace an “us” venture rather than a one-person venture.
There will be advertising to the student body and advocating for students to work with him through this fall term. Any students looking to help with the campaign or in any space of Title IX and sexual assault awareness are encouraged to reach out to Jonathan Feld!