We are incredibly proud of Erika Long, a Greeks Care facilitator who has been with our organization for over a year, for speaking at the 2024 State of State conference about the climate of sexual misconduct at Penn State. Her passion for advocacy against sexual violence shows her determine to create a safer community at Penn State.
Field Applications Engineer at Texas Instruments | B.S. in Electrical Engineering from The Pennsylvania State University
This semester, I was selected to speak at the annual State of State conference. It was an honor to have a platform to address the climate of sexual misconduct at Penn State and bring to light how we as a community can shift our attitude and create more effective solutions to the problem. As a facilitator for Greeks CARE, I have been able to see firsthand the stigma around sexual misconduct at Penn State. Without education and advocacy on the subject, we will continue to foster violence within our community. As I said in my talk, "Every act of sexual misconduct is an act of violence. These aren't statistics, these are people." Penn Staters are being affected by violence, but Penn Staters have the opportunity to end the cycle. By fostering open dialogue, promoting bystander intervention, and implementing interactive educational programs, we can create a safer campus community.