The Student Government Association hosted Denim Day alongside the Title IX Office to raise awareness for sexual assault prevention and resources for survivors in Square 80 on Wednesday.

More than 200 students and 22 student groups including Greek organizations like Zeta Beta Tau, Sigma Kappa and Alpha Epsilon Phi, advocacy groups like Poetic Justices and It’s On US , and D.C.-based women’s shelters like House of Ruth, organized bake sales, barbecues, clothing drives, and raffles to raise funds for local shelters. SGA members and students said they plan on making Denim Day an annual event to combat sexual violence on campuses.

SGA executive secretary for graduate affairs Jennifer Locane said she “spearheaded” the planning of Denim Day after the Title IX Office asked the SGA to create an event to raise awareness on sexual violence. Locane said she wanted Denim Day to be a shared space that brought the GW community together

“I think the more that we know about our rights, about what support is available, about what’s okay and what’s not okay,” Locane said. “I think the better chance we have of avoiding people even needing to go to Title Nine.”

Student organizations lined the green lawn of Square 80 with tables offering free food and pamphlets on sexual assault prevention as students dressed in denim chatted, waited in lines, and enjoyed music playing in the background.

Locane said the Denim Day initiative is an “extension” of the peer adviser model, introduced in the fall, which allows students going through the Title IX process to choose a peer adviser, which could be a trained student or a staff member, to provide emotional support for them in hearings and discuss Title IX resources.

“I’m a big believer in community, and I think that there’s so many different ways we can improve each other’s lives by being more involved,” Locane said.

Locane said both the peer adviser model and Denim Day aim to make accessing Title IX resources more “approachable” for sexual assault survivors by making the process less “intimidating” and creating community for survivors.

“I hope the message that they take away from this event is that this is a community problem and the solution comes from the community too,” Locane said.

SGA President Ethan Fitzgerald said he worked alongside Locane with Title IX to develop the peer adviser model and the Denim Day Initiative to change the “culture” surrounding sexual assault and encouraging more conversations around the issue.

“I think it’s about shifting the culture to make sure that we’re having these necessary conversations that aren’t always uncomfortable, but conversations that need to happen to move forward on this issue,” Fitzgerald said.

Fitzgerald said the University should support victims of sexual violence on campus by increasing funding to the Title IX office to institute cultural competency training for staff as well as increase staffing to reduce wait periods because the the Title IX processes can be “very long” and “tedious”.

“If we know you’re going through this, let’s make sure we’re connecting you with mental health resources,” Fitzgerald said. “Let’s make sure we’re connecting with support networks, and also being transparent about all the resources available in the DC community, to them as well.”

SGA Senator Sophie Leinenkugel (Elliot-U) and vice chair of the Women’s Caucus said she helped organize Denim Day to combat the prevalence of sexual assault among college students and to clear up misconceptions that only certain groups, like women, can experience assault and harassment.

“There’s a lot of just misconception around sexual assault and harassment, that it can only be towards women, but it can also be towards men,” Leinenkugel said. “It can be towards non-binary folk, trans folk, anything like that.”

Leinenkugel said wants the Denim Day to be a community-based event that is “interactive” and “conscientious” about informing the GW community about the resources available to them regarding sexual assault and harrassment.

“We have educational materials that people are hopefully taking away with and taking some knowledge with them,” Leinenkugel said.

Leinenkugel said she want SGA to work with the Title IX Office to better advertise resources such as the sexual assault victims’ hotline in D.C., which funds transportation to hospitals for victims.

“If students needed to get rape kits done, they couldn’t just go to GW Hospital. They have to go to one that does rape kits,” Leinenkugel said. “So we wanted to get those Lyft rides, or those Uber rides fully funded, so they wouldn’t have to pay for them themselves.”

Xander Theodoropoulos, a first-year student majoring in International Business and Finance, said he attended Denim Day to donate money and show his support for sexual assault survivors.

“I have many friends who have experienced very sad, day to day occurrences, and I’m here to support them and stay with them in solidarity,” Theodoropoulos said.

Theodoropoulos said he was really “impressed” with the turnout of the event because he did not expect many students to show up. Theodoropoulos said most people he talked to “send their love” but were not planning on attending the event.

“The outcome today was absolutely incredible and insane,” Theodoropoulos said. “I’ve already Venmoed like 30 bucks to to different tables,” Theodoropoulos said.

Theodoropoulos said sexual assault awareness initiatives like Denim Day should hosted once every semester to combat sexual violence.

“Big news stories are, sadly, always popping up,” Theodoropoulos said. “So I think once a semester would honestly be incredible.”