Last week, the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater took part in the “It’s On Us” National Week of Action.

“It’s On Us” is the White House’s national campaign to support victims and survivors of college sexual assault.

Whitewater Student Government (WSG) played a big role in the events of the week, which included a Bingo night and Lantern Release to honor survivors.

“Bingo nights’ purpose was to bring more awareness about the It’s On Us campaign and provide an interactive activity for students,” WSG associate director of Student Affairs Olivia Storey said. “The ceremonial lantern release signified all the survivors of sexual assault.”

Many students took part in the events of the week and were impressed with how the events were run.

“It was very uplifting,” UW-Whitewater student Spencer Davis said. “Sexual assault is such a heavy topic that it can be hard to make events like this attractive to students, but these focused on survivors and helping them. I enjoyed it.”

UW-W Chancellor Beverly Kopper along with many students attended the ceremonial lantern release on Friday night, which represented all survivors of sexual assault.

“Releasing the lanterns was amazing,” UW-W sophomore Alaina Fischer said. “There were so many across the sky, knowing what it represented made it so beautiful to know we are trying to help fight sexual assault.”

While the consensus around the week was very positive, students stressed that the work was not done.

“The week was amazing, but the fight isn’t over,” Fischer says. “Whitewater has had a rough year so far with sexual violence, and this is one of the first steps in combating that. I’m excited to see how we’re able to move forward from here.”