Over 40 students gathered on the steps of the Arnold Bernhard Library on Quinnipiac’s Mount Carmel Campus demanding change in the Office of Title IX led by QU S.T.A.T, Tuesday afternoon.

Spearheaded by three students, QU S.T.A.T. (Speed, Transparency, Accountability, Training) was formed to organize the protest, demand change and accountability to Quinnipiac’s Title IX office and spread awareness.

“This demonstration is about everyone who has been harmed by the Title IX office,” third-year law and society major Emma Homenick said to the crowd from the steps of the library. “Change needs to happen. We need to demand it, because the administration clearly won’t do anything.”

Homenick, along with second-year history major Thomas Potter were inspired to form the protest to demand change after being filled with upset and anger following the op-ed published by The Chronicle detailing an experience with Title IX.

They later brought in fourth-year justice and community engagement major Angelina Giordani, who has been working on the backside of the proposed  Office of Victims Advocacy (OVA).

Tuesday’s peaceful demonstration drew a large crowd of students, faculty and administration across the quad. Several Department of Public Safety officers were also in attendance to ensure safety.

“We thank the students who gathered today to share their perspectives,” Associate Vice President for Public Relations John Morgan wrote in a statement to The Chronicle. “The concerns raised are important, and university leadership is taking them seriously. We are committed to a thoughtful and genuine review of what was presented today and to continued dialogue with our campus community.

Homenick shared QU S.T.A.T.’s demands, which have been sent to Quinnipiac administration. Students in attendance also had the opportunity to sign their name at the bottom of those demands to later be given to administration as well.

“Our office is ineffective, overloaded and unsupported,” Homenick said. “We are here today to demand speed, transparency, accountability and training in the Title IX office.”

The demands include visibility for the Title IX office and their procedures, holding the university and Title IX office accountable, student advocates in the office, trauma sensitive training in the office and for Public Safety, along with several other requests.

The S.T.A.T leaders were joined by about 12 other students who have been working behind the scenes with them along with several other students outside the library with signs raised. At the top of the stairs were also members from the rugby team who later spoke, as did author of the aforementioned op-ed Lillian Curtin and a member of the Survivor Advocacy Alliance.

Early in the demonstration, President Marie Hardin presented a statement, assuring students that they are heard and she is working to make change.

“You care deeply, but I also want you to know that so do I, and so does my team,” Hardin said. “With that common foundation, I believe we could work on these issues together and we can succeed. So I want you to know that I hear you and we hear you.”

While the S.T.A.T. leaders appreciated Hardin’s statement, they still are looking for concrete change to be made.

“While I’m glad that (Hardin) came out and spoke, because that is, in a sense, like a slight bit of accountability and a slight bit of acknowledging that there is a problem,” Giordani told The Chronicle. “However, I will not feel satisfied until there is actual, concrete change.”

Potter echoed the same sentiment.

“I’m disappointed, I was really hoping for more from administration, especially after our meeting, especially after all the turnout that came out from this,” Potter told The Chronicle. “…I was really hoping for something stronger.”

Throughout the protest, speakers raised several concerns and presented QU S.T.A.T.’s demands for the university.

A large area of concern noted by Homenick is the Title IX office’s location as listed on Quinnipiac’s website. The website lists the office’s location in the academic building Tator 142, however the office is actually found on the backside of Irmgarde Tator Residence Hall. Homenick noted that this is “a potential violation of Department of (Education) standards.”

Reflecting on the turnout, the first word Potter thought was “wow.” Potter along with Homenick and Giordani all shared gratitude as well as surprise for Tuesday’s turnout.

“This was on another level,” Potter said. “We are incredibly grateful that everybody, not just students…faculty and admin, came out to listen to all the issues that students are having, and we’re incredibly proud.”

BEHIND THE SCENES OF S.T.A.T.

“Change takes time, but they’ve had time to make change,” Homenick said.

S.T.A.T. is based around those four goals of speed, transparency, accountability and training being implemented in the Title IX office.

“Accountability, I think, was something we struggled with, how do we hold the university accountable when we’re not going to say you have to do this with this person, or tell me how many people there are on campus, they’re not going to do that. There are laws, there are contracts,” Homenick said.

This is where a push for OVA comes in.

“So we’re hoping to get student advocates who are trained in survivor and victim advocacy and different things like that, who know about the Title IX process, and they would work with the students to keep them updated on their case,” Homenick said.

After forming the idea for S.T.A.T., they began with establishing an Instagram account, email and petition on change.org — with 231 signatures at the time of publication — to spread awareness through campus and beyond.

Found on the Instagram account is an anonymous form where anyone can share their experience with the Title IX office, showing how many people have been affected.

Aside from Giordani’s with OVA, the three are fairly new to this kind of advocacy in planning a protest.

“It’s overwhelming… but rewarding knowing that we are making a change on this campus, and knowing that there is so much support for making Quinnipiac a better place for people,” Potter said.

April 13, S.T.A.T. met with President Marie Hardin and Vice President for Inclusive Excellence John Armendariz to discuss their demonstration and advocacy — with all three students leaving in agreement that they felt heard throughout the meeting.

“We know Title IX is slow, we know that we know that care is slow, but to have it written out from a student experience proves to administration that it’s even more of an issue and they can’t ignore it,” Homenick said. “So that was a big part of the meeting. They said, in regards to what we wanted to get done, they kind of, they kept it like discussion based, and they said that there’s change that we don’t know about, but change is slow and that there’s money to think about.”

However, a big factor in S.T.A.T.’s formation is acknowledging that those changes still have not been made.

“These are things that can be done,” Potter said. “These are things that are realistic. These are things that would make the process far, far better than it is right now. And I think we’re all under the same mindset that it’s kind of shocking that it’s not been done already, and that it’s taken this long for stuff to come out about this.”

S.T.A.T. pushes for these changes to be made so students can have more resources, support and not feel afraid to forward about their story.

“It’s an opportunity for the university to take an extremely strong stand in support of helping students,” Giordani said.