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The Indiana Daily Student

Men Against Rape and Sexual Assault spreads

caMars

Men Against Rape and Sexual Assault’s IU chapter was founded in 2013. Today, the organization has 86 members committed to engaging and educating men about the issues of rape and 
sexual assault.

“We realized there was a need for a comprehensive educational program about these important topics, and MARS not only focuses on the issues, but also on the solutions,” said Jesse Scheinman, vice president of membership development on the 
Interfraternity Council.

In an effort to make the sexual assault discussions more focused this year, Scheinman said he hoped to use thematic speakers 
at their meetings.

“With new members joining fraternities in the coming weeks, we’re hoping to emphasize these important topics in their new member education,” he said. “We plan to target freshmen and show that talking about these issues is an important aspect of joining the IU and greek communities.”

Additionally, Scheinman said he hoped to work more with Safe Sisters, a Panhellenic group trained by the IU Health Center’s Sexual Assault Crisis Service, to serve as a resource for sisters on the issue of sexual assault and potentially plan a joint philanthropy event.

“We want to create an organization that all Hoosiers can be 
proud of,” he said.

Dan DeBard, president of Pi Lambda Phi fraternity, said 10 members of his fraternity are in MARS. He said these representatives bring information and training from MARS meetings to their chapter, making all members better able to respond in situations 
involving sexual assault.

“It’s not only understanding what happens in the moment, but also learning what to do to prevent these incidents from happening in the first place,” DeBard said. “It’s time for the fraternity community to be part of the solution, and that starts with proper education.”

Recently, a new chapter of MARS started at Purdue University. Scheinman said he helped the president of Purdue’s Phi Kappa Psi fraternity set up the organizational structure of MARS at Purdue.

“I have been in really early talks about partnering for service and philanthropy, but right now we are primarily focused on MARS at IU,” he said. “With that being said, we are certainly in contact with them, as well as MARS at 
Northwestern.”

Scheinman said all those wanting to join MARS must fill out an application on their website, www.marsprogram.org. They are also required to participate in at least 75 percent of programming and to attend one four-hour training session taught by SACS professionals that covers in-depth greek and alcohol-related issues.

“We expect skepticism at the beginning, but members will quickly realize this is completely different than what they learned in other sexual assault programming,” Scheinman said. “We use real-life scenarios during training and don’t sugar coat the material.”

Scheinman said new members have the opportunity to take on numerous leadership roles in MARS once they complete 
training.

“From marketing to web design to philanthropy planning to discussion leaders, we’re always looking for more people to help spread our message around campus,” Scheinman said.

Sophomore exercise science student and Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity member Caeb Onken said he joined MARS last semester after Bill Phan, director of MARS and former president of Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity, spoke about the organization and its mission to the new members.

“As an orientation leader this summer, I always made sure to mention MARS and all the work we are doing for the IU community,” Onken said. “I feel distinguished to be part of such an 
incredible organization.”

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