Ateneo de Naga University’s Office of Student Affairs (OSA), in cooperation with the Committee on Decorum and Investigation (CODI), conducted the second part of the Safe and Inclusive Campus Spaces Seminar-Workshop series on cultivating safe spaces. This event happened on January 26, 2024, at the Richie Fernando Hall. Sixty-four student leaders from the thirty-five recognized student organizations of ADNU attended the seminar-workshop.
Part of OSA’s Student Rights and Responsibility Campaign, this initiative is intended to foster a safe and inclusive environment for students. Particularly, the activity aimed at revisiting the learnings gained from the first part of the seminar, providing an opportunity for conversation and action planning on programs/activities, and protocols/guidelines which OSA and student organizations can implement to promote safe spaces in the university, specifically in student organizations and activities, and presenting the student organizations’ result/output.
Before the workshop proper, Janice Tresvalles, Program Officer for Student Welfare, Safety and Ethics, made a recap of what happened during the first part of the “Safe and Inclusive ADNU.” She encouraged the student leaders to take part in the advocacy.
The speaker-facilitator, Rodolfo “Sonny” SB. Virtus, Director of Student Affairs and the Chairperson of CODI started the workshop with an input on some foundational principles of student safety in the school setting, which covers issues on personal-professional boundaries, ethics, and due process, among others. He also shared guidelines and tips on how to prevent and handle sexual harassment incidents.
Afterward, Virtus facilitated the workshop proper by giving the participants an individual reflection time to answer a form that can help the university promote safe spaces, specifically on what policies and guidelines should be observed to prevent instances of sexual harassment on campus, and what programs, activities and services can the university and student organizations implement/initiate or establish to promote safe spaces on campus. This was followed by the group sharing. After the sharing, the five groups presented their outputs to the plenary.
The event host Maria Josephine Reyes, Program Officer for Student Activities and Student Organizations of OSA, wrapped up the workshop with a prayer.
The OSA is committed to prioritizing the advocacy for safe spaces in the university community. As a next step, the office has scheduled a series of meetings with representatives from the participating student organizations to refine the outputs from the recent workshop, and develop comprehensive guidelines and protocols. This collaborative work shall hopefully provide a blueprint for promoting an environment of inclusivity and respect for all the members of the community.
Written by Janice Tresvalles
Photos: Niña Jazmine Gruta
