Brian Head, '15, president of One in Four; video interview

Niki Afsar and Tierney Vial

Take Back the Archive

Academic year 2014-2015

Video, 26:04 minutes

Brian Head, UVA ’15
President, One in Four, an all-male sexual assault peer education group
Interviewed spring 2015 by Tierney Vial and Niki Afsar, research assistants for Take Back the Archive

0:18 How has sexual assault advocacy changed during your time at UVa?
“The way that people talk about sexual assault prevention now is just day and night different from the way they talked about it a year ago.”
Before this year, “we were totally shut down” when asking administration for money for peer education programs. Now “there’s a lot more money being put into education.”

4:03 How have responses to sexual assault changed within the UVa community?
Response covers Board of Visitors, university administration, and students.

9:43 What advice do you have for students who want to get involved in sexual assault advocacy?
“Take your message—take what you believe and bring it somewhere else” beyond the advocacy community.

13:59 What is a high priority area for improvement in UVa’s response to sexual assault?
“Survivor support.” “It’s not good right now.” People need to know that “what you’re feeling is real, and if you come forward we will support you.”

16:39 Can you talk about student reactions to the events of the 2014-2015 school year?
Student responses to efforts of student advocacy organizations like One in Four: “It was either, ‘why aren’t you burning down the fraternities,’ or ‘why are you supporting the feminist agenda’?”
On media frenzy: “The media sucks . . . vultures . . . except for NPR.”

22:31 Can you talk about your interactions with students through One in Four?
Some guys you talk to “don’t want to hear what you’re saying . . . But a lot of guys are deeply affected by this, and they’re not given a platform to feel that way.”
“Everybody can be reached.”