On Monday students at UNM rallied at Smith Plaza in front of Zimmerman Library to raise awareness of sexual assault and the victims it has and will affect, according to a University release.
The fraternity Alpha Tau Omega and LoboRESPECT teamed up on the effort. They set up thousands of Solo cups bottoms-up to represent victims who have or may experience sexual violence in their lifetimes.
LoboRESPECT had another message, though, being that Solo cups are most commonly associated with the consumption of alcohol. According to the release, alcohol consumption has a hand to play in 90 percent of sexual assaults.
According to the release, the two groups set up 4,129 cups: 3,760 red cups to represent the one in four females who will be affected by sexual assault in their lifetime, and 369 blue cups torepresent the one in 33 men who will be affected.
Kyle Stepp, student coordinator for LoboRESPECT, said in the statement he strongly believes that sexual assault needs to be put to a halt. He said he believes that the rally yesterday morning will help with that.
“The conversation about sexual assault needs to happen. It’s on us as students to stop it,” Stepp said in the release. “The only way to stop it is to talk about it. It’s time for us to protect the pack.”
Matthew Narvaiz a staff reporter for the Daily Lobo. He can be reached at news@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @RealMattNarvaiz.
