Bradley University Police Department officers swarmed the student center Thursday morning.
And they brought doughnuts.
BUPD hosted its fourth Coffee With a Cop event this school year, but this time in honor of sexual assault awareness. This was the last event to close out Sexual Assault Awareness Month after numerous events hosted by Bradley HEAT, Student Senate and Greek life.
The officers teamed up with the Center for Prevention of Abuse and Nina Peplow, the Bradley University Director of Human Resources and Title IX Coordinator, to hand out teal-frosted doughnuts. Teal is the official color of Sexual Assault Awareness month.
Sophomore international business and management and leadership major Robert White came for the dougnuts and left with several pamphlets.
“Events like this raise productive awareness about sexual assault ¬– for both men and women,” White said. “A lot of people are afraid to ‘come forward,’ and this is a way of making it more comfortable.”
Lauren Auer, clinical director of the Center for Prevention of Abuse, said this event was a good opportunity to make students aware of all the resources the center offers them.
“We offer free confidential counseling, and it’s unlimited,” Auer said. “We have a 24-hour hotline and students can come to us or we’ve sometimes met them on campus.”
She offered students pamphlets and information about male sexual assault, harassment in the workplace and contact information for volunteering at the center.
Sgt. Nick McCumber said today’s event drew in quite a crowd.
“We keep running out of doughnuts, but we like talking to all these students,” McCumber said.
Sophomore political science and economics major Priscila Calderon said that overall, Coffee with a Cop is a good way to build relationships between BUPD and students.
“I’ve always grown up seeing officers in a negative light,” Calderon said. “This is just a really good way to change that idea and a good opportunity to be positively exposed to police officers.”
Contact the Center for Prevention of Abuse for more information about sexual assault at 309-691-0551 or at centerforpreventionofabuse.org.
