Halleran, William & Mary Police Chief Deb Cheesebro, Senior Vice President Sam Jones, Kiersten Boyce, Title IX Coordinator at the university and Vice President for Student Affairs Ginger Ambler, who is chair of W&M’s Task Force.Īmbler said members of the Task Force appreciated the opportunity for William & Mary to screen the film on campus. Several administrators attended the screenings, including President Taylor Reveley, Provost Michael R.
Private sessions were available upon request. At each showing, counselors from The Haven, a campus facility where survivors of sexual assault may find support, advocacy and empowerment, were on hand for anyone who needed them, not just W&M students. Aware of the potential impact the film could have on attendees, William & Mary’s Student Affairs staff implemented several steps.įestival programs included an insert listing counseling and shelter resources in the Williamsburg area.
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Two full houses of students, faculty, staff and community members – one at the Kimball Theater on Friday, one at Andrews Hall on Sunday – watched the sneak preview of the powerful documentary. “It’s also an opportunity for William & Mary to renew its commitment to all of its students.” “This film is an opportunity for William & Mary to play a leadership role in the national conversation that must take place,” Barnard said. Though unable to attend, director Kirby Dick and producer Amy Ziering were awarded the festival’s “Global Film Can” award. Following a question-and-answer session with the audience on Sunday, Clark and Pino were presented with the GFF's “Rising Young Talent” award. The film narrates the experience of the two women, who were raped while students at the University of North Carolina and ultimately joined together to create EROC (End Rape on Campus), a national organization that travels the country consulting with college victims of sexual assault. The university’s Task Force on Preventing Sexual Assault and Harassment, formed in September, together with the Student Assembly, provided funds to bring the film’s main protagonists, Andrea Pino and Annie Clark, to campus to present the film and meet with students.
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The film offered a sobering look at the issue of campus sexual violence – and the handling of cases by universities, police and prosecutors - through the personal stories of survivors at several institutions across the country.Īlthough Barnard and co-programmer and distribution manager Kate Previti – herself a survivor of rape – led the charge to bring the movie to campus, The Hunting Ground very quickly became a university-wide event. In the end, an American-made documentary on campus sexual assaults – The Hunting Ground – found him, and ultimately led to W&M becoming the first university in the nation to offer a sneak preview of the film as part of the festival last weekend. William & Mary Global Film Festival Director Timothy Barnard went to the Sundance Film Festival in January looking primarily for foreign movies that would support the festival’s 2015 theme of “Film and Renewal.”