The Sexual Assault and Domestic Violence Awareness (SADVA) club hosted a bake sale fundraiser on Wednesday, Dec. 6 from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the Jamrich ticketing booth. This fundraiser was intended to help support the newly formed student organization, as well as spread the word about their club.
Grace Cook, the club’s president, started this club after she personally experienced an assault on Northern’s campus in 2021.
“I would like to help connect [the resources I found in Marquette] to our school and really make that more accessible and available to students,” Cook said.
Cook formed this group to do just that. The bake sale fundraiser will help them to achieve some of their main goals and help to finance upcoming events to support these goals.
“The group’s goal is to knock down the stigma that is put up against sexual assault and domestic violence,” Cook said.
In conjunction with the help of University of Michigan, SADVA is hoping to change the way that sex and consent are talked about within relationships and healthy boundaries.
“We are looking at maybe starting some new programs at Northern that would deal with healthy masculinity and things of that nature,” Cook said. “We are really trying to partner with the school and with schools in Michigan, to see what they are doing and then what we can do better.”
In addition to this, Cook explained some of the future events she hopes this fundraiser will support.
“We just want to sell some goodies and get our fund built so that we are able to have more events in the future,” Cook said. “Events like having people come in and teach self-defense classes, training and moments where we can all band together and support people.”
Despite being a new club, SADVA has already received support from many other students and faculty, not only at Northern but also in the Marquette community.
“Everybody that I have talked to is very positive about it,” Cook said. “They want to help, and they want to volunteer, which is great to see.”
The new Health Center is also supportive and willing to help SADVA in various ways, according to Cook.
SADVA is hoping more students join their leadership team for next semester. Currently, about seven to 10 people have been attending the three meetings held thus far. However, Cook emphasized that this club is for anyone, not just those identifying as female.
To learn more about this club or support them, visit their page on the Hub.
