Student Affairs is looking for interested people to be inaugural members of its new sexual assault awareness and prevention committee.

“The committee’s goal, first of all, is to start a social media conversation around sexual violence on campus and how it impacts students,” said Amanda Stewart, of Student Affairs.

“We got the idea for the committee and to use social media from Brigham Young University,” said graduate assistant Oscar Guzman, who works for the Student Affairs and Enrollment Management office. “BYU has a social media ‘story’ on Instagram that tells students who to see, where to go and what to do if this or that happens, told by students not administrators.”

Guzman said the plan is to use social media to educate students and get information out to as wide an audience as possible. Social media is seen as the most effective way to quickly reach as many people as possible, he explained.

Guzman said Fresno State’s committee was created because there are issues surrounding sexual assault on campus. He said the committee wants to make it a norm for students to report incidents and then seek the appropriate help — university police, the Title IX office or the counseling center — for their particular situation. He said the committee is a cooperative effort by several offices on campus.

“We’re intentionally reaching out to Greek life and athletics,” Guzman said. He said there’s a perception that members of both groups are frequently involved in campus sexual assaults.

At least two Greek life and athletics organizations are already involved, according to Guzman. Interest from others is slowly trickling in.

The first phase of the committee’s work will revolve around social media messaging, he said. The second will then lead up to Sexual Assault Awareness Month next April. He said, so far, there’s lots of support from students.

Interested students can reach Guzman via email at [email protected].