SASS

Students Against Sexism in Society

Students Against Sexism in Society (SASS) is a highly active group on campus, dedicated to a focus on women's issues, gender equality, and on dismantling the hierarchical, patriarchal structure of society. SASS fights against not only patriarchy, but also racism, classism, and heterosexism.

The group wants not only to sponsor events for the school, but to create an open dialogue between women and also between all genders to discuss issues that affect them.

Past Events

• Take Back the Night is a SASS event that happens almost every year, in which students rally and walk the campus and Galesburg in an effort to raise awareness of sexual assault, particularly the lack of safety women feel when walking alone in the dark. It includes live entertainment, such as a band or a spoken-word poet like slam poet Andrea Gibson with students performing their own pieces at the rally.
• Love Your Body Week, a celebration of body confidence and beauty that comes in all shapes, sizes, colors, and kinds. SASS set up photo shoots between photographers and models (all Knox students) that focused on loving oneself and held an exhibit of these photos in the Taylor Student Lounge. Body Week also featured a coffeehouse with body-positive and feminist performances, yoga, body art, and a media-literacy discussion.
• Women's Wellness Month
• Make Your Own Sex Toy parties as well as sex toy education
• Performances of The Vagina Monologues and film showings such as "When Abortion Was Illegal"

SASS also believes that discussion is key to any issue, and has hosted dinner discussions about:

• Women and religion
• Porn and prostitution
• Body image in the media

Speakers

For many of its events, SASS brings a speaker or musical guest to campus. Alix Olson, a radical feminist spoken-word poet, and Larry Kirkwood, a body cast artist, have both been brought to Knox by SASS.

SASS meets weekly in the Human Rights Center and everyone is welcome to attend.