The Coalition Club hosted guest speaker Dana Veasman and Carolyn Compton for Sexual Assault Awareness Week Friday, Feb. 23. Veasman works as a crisis intervention specialist for Alternatives to Living in Violent Environments (ALIVE). When victims call in, Veasman tries to get them into a safe place through the program Nights of Safety and then finds them shelter. Veasman has been a survivor of sexual assault for 20 years and hopes to bring awareness. “My biggest advice would be to go to an adult and talk to somebody about getting out of the situation, because a lot of times when you’re a teenager, you feel [that] when you’re dating somebody you’re in school with, that you can’t get away from them, because they’re in class with you,” Veasman said. “Sometimes it’s your first crush. One of the things that I would suggest highly is to go communicate it with an adult. Get some advice. Talk to a counselor. Talk to your friends. Talk to your mom if you have a good relationship with her or your dad. Trust somebody. Talk to somebody you trust.”

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Julia Smotkin, sophomore, listens to the speakers and her peers. "I think my biggest takeaway from learning about all of this is probably just all of the warning signs and just keeping that in the back of your head when you're in a relationship and whenever you're really interacting with anyone," Smotkin said. "[They're] just good indicators as to [whether] the situation you're in is healthy and appropriate."