WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama has tried to use the power of his office to combat sexual assaults on college campuses. On Friday, he got some help.
In a speech from the East Room, the president announced “It’s on Us,” a nationwide public service campaign aimed at urging young people to do more to prevent campus sexual assaults. Obama called for a “fundamental shift in our culture” in the way women are treated and in the response to victims of sexual assault.
“From sports leagues to pop culture to politics, our society does not sufficiently value women,” Obama said. “We still don’t condemn sexual assault as loudly as we should.”
At the event, the administration debuted a 30-second video, which features celebrities including actors Kerry Washington and Jon Hamm, musician Questlove and NBA star Kevin Love.
Officials said the celebrities involved would know how to get through to the millennial generation.
Love, who plays for the Cleveland Cavaliers, and Olivia Munn, an actress in “The Newsroom,” an HBO series, attended the announcement.
Obama also put a heavy emphasis on engaging men in the conversation.
“It is not just on parents of young women to caution them; it is on the parents of young men to teach them respect for women,” Obama said. “It is on grown men to set an example and be clear about what it means to be a man.”
The campaign’s name, “It’s on Us,” is intended to send the message that everyone should feel a responsibility to confront the problem of sexual assault.
In April, after a series of highly publicized rapes on college campuses, the administration released guidelines aimed at pressuring universities to do more.
A task force created by the White House has been advertising with a “1is2many” campaign that is intended to drive home the message that sexual assaults will always be a problem on college campuses. The task force had urged colleges to conduct surveys to document the extent of the problem on their campuses.
The president also introduced an “It’s on Us” logo on Friday, Electronic Arts, a popular video game maker, has pledged to include the logo in many of its games. There is also a campaign website: itsonus.org.
