Welcome to CalSO Postscript
This newsletter features stories for and by Berkeley undergraduates. If you've attended CalSO, you've already learned a bit about the campus. Postscript hopes to expand your knowledge about some of the opportunities and advantages available to you.

Postscript Fall 2006 Stories
Welcome to Cal! | Peer Education: GenEq Resource Center | I "heart" consent | Writer's block: a Berkeley tutor's experience | Campus Politics: the ASUC and me | Community Service: Hurricane Katrina

Postscript Fall 2005 Stories
Dear incoming freshmen | Diversity in Berkeley | Drinking 101 | Research: Expand your undergraduate experience | Paris, France: Fall 2003

SHAPE intern Iris Mattes and Co-director of the GenEq Center, Women's Programs and Services, Christine Ambrosio. Photo by Jenne Mowry.

For more information about resources Iris has mentioned, please check:

DeCal (Democratic Education at Cal)
Check the website for a list of available classes; they are not listed in the Schedule of Classes. Courses typically start the second or third week of the semester. http://www.decal.org

Gender Equity Resource Center
http://geneq.berkeley.edu

Take Back the Night
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
Take_Back_the_Night

The warm glow of the fire softened the piercing cold of the crisp night air. The fire was not a large one, but it provided me with more warmth and comfort than any other bonfire ever had. This was not your average log burning fire, but instead it was being fueled by about 20 pieces of paper which detailed some of the most private and protected moments of people’s lives. No, this was not some peculiar cult initiation or a voodoo ceremony, it was an in-class activity for my Female Sexuality DeCal class (aka, FemSex). DeCals, Democratic Education at Cal, are a trademark of a unique Berkeley education. They are small classes facilitated by students, with faculty sponsors, covering a myriad of subjects. FemSex is one of those DeCals, and it is taught by women for women (and a small number of men) in the hopes of creating a safe space to discuss many of the issues surrounding female sexuality.

One of these issues is that of sexual harassment and assault. Part of FemSex includes an evening where everyone gathers together and, if they feel comfortable enough, shares a story of when they have been a survivor of sexual harassment or assault, or a story of someone else who has affected them in some way. After all the stories have been read, everyone throws their papers into a small bonfire as a symbolic gesture of ridding oneself of that experience, or at least giving it some closure. As I stood by the fire that night, I found myself looking at each one of my classmates, the tears in their eyes glistening by the light of the fire. I was in such awe of everyone present. Every single woman and man in my class had personally experienced a harassing or abusing situation, not one was lucky enough to have lived free of its reach. My classmates were some of the most empowered and sexually aware people I had ever met, and yet all had been violated in some way.

The pervasiveness of sexual abuse really stuck with me. After that night, I began to research sexual harassment and assault in an effort to try and learn as much as I could. I became acquainted with the Gender Equity Resource Center and spent a year as a Sexual Harassment Assault/Advocacy Prevention Education (SHAPE) intern. Although nothing can allow me to forget my personal experience with sexual assault, becoming a SHAPE intern has given me the opportunity to meet, listen and share stories with others. This has immensely supported and aided my path to becoming a more aware and empowered survivor. I’ve also learned more about the issues surrounding sexual abuse, how to become a peer educator and give presentations on such topics as gender stereotypes, sexual boundary awareness and safe partying. As a student, I can engage in equitable student to student interactions, empowering others, whether they attend parties or put them on, to be aware of their own boundaries and respect those of others.

Furthermore, I have been lucky enough to be a part of an amazing group of students who organized a Take Back the Night Rally on campus. At a closing ceremony for the rally, we held a flower dedication where everyone sat in a large circle around a lantern decorated with silhouettes, each silhouette representing someone who has experienced sexual assault. As the glow of the lantern began to raise people’s spirits, one by one people slowly began to get up and dedicate a flower to someone close to them who had survived sexual assault. As some people dedicated five or six flowers saying that they knew so many who were survivors of sexual abuse, I was reminded once again of the pervasiveness of sexual abuse and my original experience at the FemSex bonfire a year ago. However, this time things were different. Around me were people who had all been affected by sexual assault. They were not shedding tears but instead had gathered together in solidarity to reclaim the night and regain their power.

--Iris Mattes, Junior
Psychology and Legal Studies
From Foster City, California

Postscript Fall 2006 Stories
Welcome to Cal! | Peer Education: GenEq Resource Center | I "heart" consent | Writer's block: a Berkeley tutor's experience | Campus Politics: the ASUC and me | Community Service: Hurricane Katrina

Postscript Fall 2005 Stories
Dear incoming freshmen | Diversity in Berkeley | Drinking 101 | Research: Expand your undergraduate experience | Paris, France: Fall 2003