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SBCC student Brianna Denison's murder inspires event to shed light on rape, domestic abuse
Communication Department, President's Office among others sponsor forum featuring rape advocate Marnie Goodfriend
Miguel Arana
Issue date: 4/23/08 Section: News

Nobody knows when tragedy will occur and few are truly prepared if something disturbing actually happens.

The memory of the tragic death of slain Santa Barbara City College student Brianna Denison remains fresh inside this college community.

For that reason, the college is hosting a special event to discuss how to prevent rape and domestic violence.

The event, named "Let's Build it Together: Women, Men and the Toolbox for a Safer Campus," will be held on Tuesday April 29th at 3:30 p.m. at Room 211 in the Administration Building.

This event is sponsored by the President's Office, Campus Diversity, the Communication Department and the Sigma Chi Eta Honor Society.

"The purpose of this activity is to raise awareness about rape prevention and domestic violence," said Vanessa Gonzalez, president of Sigma Chi Eta and who used to work with Denison at the Communication Lab. "It is very important that we as college students never underestimate our safety, which is why Sigma Chi Eta has made this seminar the focal point of the semester."

Sigma Chi Eta is the community college honor society of the National Communication Association. The society was founded in 2000, but is a new addition to SBCC this semester.

The guest speaker will be Marnie Goodfriend, a freelance photographer, mixed media artist and writer. Goodfriend is also an advocate, activist and rape survivor who donates artwork and time speaking for women's organizations that address sexual assault and violence prevention, such as Rape Abuse & Incest National Network and SAVI, according to her Web site.

The network, which is an affiliate of the Santa Barbara Rape Crisis Center, states that: "college-age women are four times more likely to be sexually assault than any other age group."

The Brianna Denison case has impacted Gonzalez greatly.

"This situation affected me greatly because was so shocking and unexpected," Gonzalez said. "It was definitely an eye opener to the fact that something like this could really happen to anyone. I feel that this is a topic that we don't think about often enough and therefore need an opportunity like this to help inform the student body."

Sigma Chi Eta is also looking for the opportunity to host a self-defense seminar, said Gonzalez.