After joining the Winthrop community in November, Title IX Coordinator Kevin Sheppard Sr. spoke to students last week about what he hopes to accomplish in his new role.
In a presentation given by Sheppard, he spoke about the future of the Title IX program here at Winthrop. Sheppard mentioned that he is in the process of reviewing Winthrop’s current online training program, Campus Safety Training, that students must complete annually. Students have heavily criticized the current online training program in the past.
“It’s pretty good training. There’s one particular area that I was not pleased with at all. And I’m going to address that with the vendor, but overall, the training touches on what it needs to touch on, but that can’t be all. That can’t be the only training that you all received,” said Sheppard. “So we’re improving that training with not only online training, but live training as well.
Sheppard is also looking to require live training for clubs, athletics, and organizations around campus.
“I’m going to be at some of your student organizations, doing live training. If you’re an athlete, I’m going to be in front of your sports team, doing live training, so it’s not going to be just online.”
In Sheppard’s presentation, the idea of a partnership with students was at the forefront of his message.
“I want you to understand my door is open for each and every one of you and your classmates, because I want us to work in a partnership. I want us to work together to deal with the issues that have been going on and that we feel that need to be addressed in a more appropriate fashion,” said Sheppard.
Sheppard also spoke of a new program called “Student Title IX Leadership Program” that will invite every student to become educated about Title IX while strengthening empowerment and empathy around Title IX issues. Details of this program will be sent to all student emails next month.
“I need your help. I want you all to be involved in the program, be involved in the marketing and rebranding of our Title IX office and the culture [shift] here at Winthrop,” said Sheppard.
Sheppard also acknowledged the protests that have been happening around campus. He is open to working with protestors directly to reach a solution together.
“Protests are good. Protest can be very effective, but that’s not your only avenue. There is nothing wrong with protesting, but you have to be willing to be a part of the solution,” said Sheppard.
After taking questions from the student body at his presentation, Sheppard proposed his own question to the students:”Do you all think we can work together to make this a better process for everybody involved? Are you all willing to talk to your friends, talk to your classmates and say let’s work together in coming up with solutions to make the Title IX process, provisions, education and training better here at Winthrop?”
