Capitol Beat
New study shows financial value of University System of Georgia degrees
Dave Williams
University System of Georgia (USG) graduates from the Class of 2021 will earn more than $1 million more during their lifetimes than they would have without earning a bachelor’s degree, according to a new study. The study, conducted by Jeff Humphreys, director of the Selig Center for Economic Growth at the University of Georgia’s Terry College of Business, revealed the breakdown of how much each level of higher education can add to a USG graduate’s total earnings over their lives. “The difference higher education makes on a person’s life is dramatic,” said system Chancellor Sonny Perdue said. “Whether you are a high school graduate trying to decide between going to college or entering the workforce, or you are a mid-career adult wanting to improve your earning potential by completing your degree or adding to your education, this study clearly demonstrates a college degree in Georgia is a worthwhile investment.”
Story also appeared in The Albany Herald, Henry Herald, Rome News-Tribune, Mainstreet News, Cherokee Tribune, Statesboro Herald, The Augusta Press, Athens Banner-Herald, WFXL, WRDW, Rockdale Citizen, Clayton News-Daily, and Up Jobs News.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Opinion: Georgia’s well-set to weather economic storms
By Chris Clark
State is in good shape by comparison as recession worries linger.
War in Ukraine. COVID-19 variant BA.5. Rising interest rates. High fuel costs. Soaring food prices. West coast supply chain failures. Chinese economic and banking crisis. Taiwan. Political races across the country. A disconnect between Washington policies and small businesses. Exceptional-level droughts around the world. Labor shortages. High home prices coupled with a lack of workforce housing. It’s all enough to keep anyone awake at night. All these issues, and a dozen others, are leading most economists to declare some level of economic recession likely in the next 18 months. …But here in Georgia things look much brighter. …By 2025, Georgians must fill 30,000 manufacturing jobs, 122,000 healthcare positions, 40,000 educators and 13,000 skilled professional openings. By 2030, we’ll need 42% more energy workers, 31% more data specialists and 33% more cybersecurity professionals. By working closely with University System of Georgia Chancellor Sonny Perdue, Technical College System of Georgia Commissioner Greg Dozier and State School Superintendent Richard Woods to rethink workforce development and quality education, we will be able to keep our economy growing and help Georgians remain financially secure.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Augusta University nurse traveling back to Ukraine asks others to help
By Hunter Boyce
With more than three decades on the job, she’s bringing invaluable industry experience to war-torn country
Sara Elizabeth Curry, an Augusta University Health nurse, recently returned from a trip out of the country. The Douglas native didn’t fly overseas to take a vacation, though. She was in Ukraine saving lives. “I just wanted to try to help in some way,” she told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “And I started looking for ways that I could go.” To help the war-torn country, Curry teamed up with the Novick Cardiac Alliance — a volunteer organization dedicated to “improving the skills, knowledge, technology, and experience of local health-care providers in regions of the world without access to quality Pediatric Cardiac Care.” As a nurse with three decades of experience under her belt, aiding patients and saving lives is nothing new to Curry.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Kemp steers more federal dollars toward learning loss
By Ty Tagami
Funds would help Georgia students with special needs and in preschool and after-school programs
Students with disabilities and children in preschool are among the latest Georgia beneficiaries from federal education pandemic relief funds distributed by Gov. Brian Kemp. Kemp’s office announced the $37.4 million distribution from the Governor’s Emergency Education Relief Fund on Monday. The recipients: …Georgia Public Library Services: $2.3 million
The grants are intended to address pandemic-related learning loss with tutoring and resource acquisition.
Albany Herald
Georgia State University receives $6 million ‘intellectual humility’ grant
From staff reports
College of Education & Human Development Associate Professor Don Davis and colleagues received a $6 million grant from the John Templeton Foundation to better understand intellectual humility. Intellectual humility is defined as “recognizing and owning our intellectual limitations in the service of pursuing deeper knowledge, truth and understanding,” according to the foundation’s website.
Savannah Business Journal
Savannah Business Journal Staff Report
In a constantly changing world with new mediums for communication, it’s critical for professionals to be adaptive to the latest communication strategies. Georgia Southern University continues to adapt to this digital transportation with expanding its Master of Arts (M.A.) program in Professional Communication and Leadership to online platforms. The Master of Professional Communication and Leadership is designed to further professional development through coursework in written and verbal communications skills, critical thinking and leadership. The program is directed toward both traditional and nontraditional students who are either already in the workforce or are making the transition from an undergraduate degree to a professional setting.
University Business
Enrollment update: Clear winners are emerging from pack early this fall
While others struggle, two big public universities are among a group savoring an abundance of new students.
By: Chris Burt
A deep split continues to exist between the haves and the have nots in terms of enrollments in higher education, and many of the divides are occurring in the same states. For example, while Columbus State University has reported it is having to cut nearly 10% of its faculty because of declines, the University of Georgia in Athens is seeing soaring numbers on the strength of a record 6,200 new students. There are many stories like Columbus State across higher ed this fall, institutions still reeling from years of sliding interest and the throes of the pandemic. But there are also many experiencing the highs of COVID-19 partially lifting, with international students returning and freshmen ignoring questions about the value of postsecondary education in the U.S. Universities such as Georgia are trying hard to ensure they can deliver on their promises, creating pathways to careers they are seeking and helping them gain real-world skills that matter to employers.
Augusta CEO
Hull College of Business Offers Project Management Exam Prep Course
Kevin Faigle
Registration is open for an in-person examination preparation course for the Project Management Professional (PMP) certification. The Hull College of Business at Augusta University is an approved Authorized Training Partner for the PMP. Courses will be from 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. every Tuesday and Thursday from Aug. 23 to Sept. 15 at the Georgia Cyber Center. “Our prep course has been a great success. We have already held two open enrollment classes, last November and February, and a class specifically for U.S. Army Cyber Command in May,” said Dr. Rick Franza, dean of the Hull College of Business. “We have received outstanding feedback from the attendees, and we’ve heard back from many who have completed the course, have gone on to take the PMP test and passed, and are now certified project management professionals.”
The Oglethorpe Echo
‘Those were the days, my friends,’ at UGA
By Dink NeSmith
Staring out the front door of The Oglethorpe Echo, I could see Hondas, Jeeps, BMWs and SUVs streaming though Lexington. Every UGA-bound vehicle was jampacked with stuff for dorm rooms and off-campus living spaces. This year, more than 6,200 UGA freshmen will be bringing with them an average SAT score of 1384. Considering today’s admission standards—compared to 1966—I’m lucky to be an alumnus, let alone past president of the University of Georgia Alumni Association. Today, the admissions office would snicker at my application. Others snickering would be 2022’s freshmen reading this. Fifty-six years ago, freshmen couldn’t have cars. My parents hauled me and my stuff to UGA in their 1964 Buick. Jesup is 215 miles from Athens. My dad said that was too far to travel in one day. We stopped short and spent the night in Greensboro.
WGAU Radio
UGA helps Georgia towns with downtown refurbishments
By Margaret Blanchard, UGA Today
Buena Vista is ready for a face-lift. Steeped in the turpentine and cotton industries, the small (pop. 1,800) Georgia city about 30 miles east of Columbus today features a city square with wide streets surrounding an antebellum-era courthouse. Trucks carrying logs and gravel swing through town while cars regularly honk or wave to folks walking down the street. Kevin Brown, a Buena Vista native and current mayor, sees a community poised for growth and is looking to the University of Georgia’s Carl Vinson Institute of Government to help guide the way. “We all have ideas, but now it’s time to get a plan, so we can then go ask for support,” he said. It’s a story that has played out in many smaller towns and cities across the state in recent years, and where faculty and students in UGA’s Georgia Downtown Renaissance Fellowship are making a difference. The program enlists graduate students from the UGA College of Environment and Design to help breathe new life into Georgia’s small, rural cities like Buena Vista.
Albany Herald
New Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College president calls convocation ‘springboard into future’
From staff reports
Addressing the incoming freshman students at the annual Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College Freshman Convocation on a drizzly, gray Saturday morning, new ABAC President Tracy Brundage said the students should use the opportunity as a “springboard” to their futures. “This day serves as a springboard toward your future self,” Brundage told the standing-room-only crowd in front of historic Tift Hall. “We are honored that ABAC is able to accompany you on this significant journey.
Savannah CEO
Staff Report
Georgia Southern University’s Business Innovation Group (BIG), a place where innovators and entrepreneurs in southeast Georgia can gain skills and training to transform their businesses, has teamed up with one of its own clients to offer enhanced resources to the community. BIG has been working alongside Garrett Clark — a Georgia Southern alumnus, Statesboro-Bulloch County Chamber of Commerce board member and local business owner — as its Community Catalyst, a role BIG has had since its inception in 2014. In this role, Clark shares his leadership, problem-solving expertise and marketing strategy in an advisory capacity to BIG’s leadership team and fellow entrepreneurs in the space. Founding Director of BIG and Associate Provost for Innovation and Commercialization at Georgia Southern, Dominique Halaby, DPA, said as the current Community Catalyst, Clark, a visionary and innovator, has been an integral part of the environment.
Marietta Daily Journal
Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College seeking members for community band, choir
Members of the community are invited to join the Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College Community Band or Community Choir when rehearsals begin in coming weeks. “This is a great opportunity for everyone to come out, have some fun, and be a part of a great experience at ABAC,” Jennifer Huang, ABAC’s Fine Arts department head, said. “No experience is required.” Rehearsals begin on Monday at 6:30 p.m. for the Community Choir in the Choral Suite in Edwards Hall on the ABAC campus. Rehearsals will be held on the second and fourth Mondays each month. Marti Schert directs the ABAC choral program.
The Georgia Virtue
Georgia Southern Athletics announced its enhanced partnership with Opendorse to provide a dedicated Name, Image and Likeness marketplace for its student-athletes, one of the first licensed school marketplaces in college sports. The Opendorse-powered marketplace, named GATA Spotlight, will maximize NIL support for student-athletes through a single, streamlined platform that affords Eagle Nation and local organizations the opportunity to best support its student-athletes. Now, Georgia Southern fans, brands, sponsors and donors can browse, book, pitch and pay any Georgia Southern student-athlete for NIL activities in one compliant platform built specifically for the athletes’ needs.
The Business Journals
Esco Eats Apple Cobbler Pie to sell at Georgia Tech football games
By Zach Armstrong – Tech and Innovation Reporter
While attending Jackson State University, Esco Hill’s friend suggested food critic as an attractive profession. Upon reflection, he realized most food-centered media such as the Food Network target a predominantly older, white audience. Fast forward two years, past a fortunate, failed kitchen experiment, and Hill has aspirations of making his Esco Eats Apple Cobbler Pie the go-to desert for sporting events around the world. “We’ve got people who hate apple pie to love our product,” Hill said. “We see it being a worldwide recognition in three to five years.” In 2020, Hill launched the Esco Eats food series meant to attract a younger demographic by bringing a humorous element to cuisine content. The Youtube channel reached 10,000 views with around 700 subscribers. In one of the series’ last episodes, which featured a Yale gymnast, Hill botched a recipe for apple pie that resulted in a unique texture.
He took the resulting pastry — a pie when at room temperature and an apple cobbler when heated — to market. Hill piloted the product at farmer’s markets around Atlanta and the ice cream shop Purpose Pops where they would sell out within minutes. He provided Truist Park about 150 pies, which sold out within two days. Amazon then became his biggest customer — purchasing over 1,500 units for its employees being sold in the Atlanta metro area. Because of Hill’s unique story, Georgia Tech’s Create-X program to admitted the startup.
WJCL
Limited-Edition Georgia Southern Bud Light Cans set to hit store shelves
Anheuser-Busch announces sponsorship of Eagle Athletics
Frank Sulkowski, Anchor/Reporter
Anheuser-Busch, America’s leading brewer, has announced its commitment to become the domestic beer, craft beer, and seltzer sponsor of Georgia Southern University Athletics, including sponsorship rights in the ready-to-drink canned cocktails category as well. The three-year agreement unites iconic brands that share a mission to build meaningful connections with sports fans on game day and enhance the Paulson Stadium experience. “We are very grateful and appreciative of the continued support from Anheuser-Busch and Southern Crown Partners [previously Southern Eagle],” said Georgia Southern Director of Athletics Jared Benko. Bud Light will release limited-edition Georgia Southern co-branded packaging featuring the classic rally cry “Hail Southern!”
SeedQuest
Turfgrass Research Field Day draws hundreds to University of Georgia’s Griffin campus
The University of Georgia Turfgrass Team welcomed approximately 700 people — including turf industry professionals, golf course superintendents and local homeowners — to the UGA Griffin campus for the 2022 Turfgrass Research Field Day earlier this month. Attendees learned about a variety of turf-related issues from UGA Cooperative Extension specialists and other UGA researchers during the Aug. 3 event. The day began with opening remarks from David Buntin, interim assistant provost and campus director for UGA-Griffin; Doug Hollberg, Griffin mayor; and Clint Waltz, UGA Extension turfgrass specialist and professor of crop and soil sciences. Waltz, who serves as the director of Turfgrass Field Day, was thrilled to bring the event back to the turfgrass industry and the state of Georgia after the event was canceled in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The event is usually held every two years at UGA-Griffin.
WRBL
WRBL to televise debate between Congressman Sanford Bishop (D) and challenger Chris West (R)
by: Chuck Williams
The two candidates in the Georgia 2nd Congressional District race have committed to a televised October debate right here on WRBL. Democratic Congressman Sanford Bishop and Republican challenger Chris West will appear Oct. 26 at University Hall on Columbus State’s main campus. The hour-long debate starts at 7 p.m. It will also live-stream on WRBL.com. …“WRBL is proud to announce the debate between incumbent Democratic Congressman Sanford Bishop and Republican challenger Chris West for Georgia’s Second Congressional District seat,” said Joe McGuire, Vice President and General Manager of WRBL-TV. “This is the second debate WRBL has held in partnership with Columbus State University, following an April Columbus Mayoral debate. WRBL looks to continue our commitment to being your local election headquarters to voters in West Georgia and East Alabama.” Those partnerships are vital, CSU Interim President John Fuchko said.
WLBT
Where bison roamed: Paleontological dig shows a different Georgia
Imagine a Georgia—60,000 years ago—where the coastal city of Brunswick was 70 miles from the ocean and most of the state was a great, grassy plain where the bison and mammoths roamed. In an era when most people think paleo is a diet, a small public liberal arts school in Central Georgia is leading the way to unearthing this past. In doing so, it reminds the world just how hip and modern real paleontology can be. “Some people say paleontology is a dying profession and, at big research universities, that’s probably true. Many have eliminated their paleontology departments,” said Dr. Al Mead, a biology professor at Georgia College & State University in Milledgeville, Georgia. “But in this environment,” he said, “it can thrive. Paleontology is a true liberal arts science because of all the passion of discovery that goes along with the liberal arts.” Mead is a paleomammalogist who studies ecosystems of the past.
Story also appeared in:
Morningstar, WBTV, Fox8, KXAN-TV, WRDB-TV
Medical Xpress
Surprising culprit worsens stroke, TBI damage
by Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University
In the aftermath of a stroke or TBI, a group of amino acids that typically support brain function contribute significantly to the brain destruction that can follow both these injuries, scientists report. The new study provides for the first time the surprising evidence that four common nonexcitatory amino acids that usually make proteins which are essential to brain function, instead cause irreversible, destructive swelling of both the astrocytes that support neurons and the neurons themselves, says Dr. Sergei Kirov, neuroscientist in the Department of Neuroscience and Regenerative Medicine at the Medical College of Georgia. “There are many ways to kill neurons. This is one that people have not thought about,” says Kirov, corresponding author of the study published in the journal Glia.
WJBF
Forensic pathologist shortage fueling autopsy backlogs
by: Deirnesa Jefferson
Coroner’s offices across the CSRA are dealing with the same issue, a backlog on autopsies and a longer wait for families to get closure. “Families wanting answers that we can’t provide in a timely efficient manner,” Burke County Chief Deputy Coroner Bonnie Powell said. …“It presents a backlog for cases and the investigative team cannot move forward until they get their information,” Powell said. Some coroners say the issue is the result of the statewide forensic pathologist shortage. “I think that they need pathologists. I know that the state is actively trying to recruit more pathologists, but I think that having additional pathologists will help to get the cases in quicker,” Powell said. That’s exactly what the pathology program at the Medical College of Georgia is hoping to do. …The program is already seeing success, one resident now doing a fellowship at the GBI Crime Lab in Atlanta. However, the goal is also to keep forensic pathologists locally to lessen the caseload for GBI Atlanta where the director said they sometimes process 100 bodies in a week.
Axios
TV money is breaking college sports
Tim Baysinger
The upheaval going on in college sports that has seen multiple major schools switch conference allegiances is being driven almost entirely by a lust for TV dollars. Why it matters: The gulf between the haves and the have-nots created by the ocean of money in college sports is only going to get wider. Driving the news: USC and UCLA will join the Big Ten Conference starting in 2024, making it the first conference to span both coasts. In 2025, Texas and Oklahoma will decamp from the Big 12 for the SEC, joining superpowers such as Alabama and Georgia.
Higher Education News:
NPR
Advice from students whose college experience was shaped by the pandemic
As students across the country head back to campus, two college sophomores — Aya Hamza and Madeline Muller — talk to NPR’s Michel Martin about how COVID-19 has altered their college experience.
Higher Ed Dive
Are no-interest loans a simple fix to the student debt crisis?
Laura Spitalniak, Associate Editor
Dive Brief:
Federal policymakers should offer no-interest student loans to prevent borrowers from paying more than their loans’ initial value, according to a Boston-based nonprofit group focused on college affordability and lobbying against student debt. The proposal, outlined in a report from the Hildreth Institute, seeks to address the growing number of borrowers who become trapped in loans with negative amortization — borrowers making payments on their loans that don’t cover accumulating interest, resulting in a loan balance that grows. Under Hildreth’s plan, the government would offset the costs of interest-free loans by investing the principal repayments in risk-free assets, like Federal Reserve bonds. This could generate a return that would cover administrative costs.
Inside Higher Ed
OPINION – A Federal-State Partnership for Higher Ed Funding
The federal government can play a role in reducing public college costs by establishing a flexible matching grant program, Kevin Miller writes.
By Kevin Miller
College costs and student debt continue to rise, and cuts in state funding for higher education have been a major reason why. The good news is that the federal government can play a key role in reversing these trends, making college more affordable for all. Attending a public four-year institution costs 14 percent more now than in the 2006–07 academic year, after adjusting for the impact of inflation and grant aid. Meanwhile, 43 million borrowers owe more than $1.6 trillion in federal student loans. Not surprisingly, prospective college students and their parents identify debt and affordability as their biggest worries about college. Moreover, students and families aren’t the only participants in the higher education system who are struggling financially. Most institutions of higher education have faced enrollment declines since the onset of COVID-19, leaving them with fewer tuition dollars. The end of the pandemic, however, will not reverse those declines. The aging of America’s population translates into a shrinking cohort of prospective 18- to 24-year-old students for years to come.
Inside Higher Ed
HBCU Leaders Want More Federal Action After Threats
Leaders of historically Black colleges and universities are tired of waiting for results as an FBI investigation into campus bomb threats continues.
By Sara Weissman
Some leaders of historically Black colleges and universities say they’re frustrated by a lack of communication and insufficient support from federal agencies after bomb threats swept their campuses six months ago. More than a third of the nation’s HBCUs received bomb threats this year, starting in January. A wave of threats continued throughout February, Black History Month, causing particular alarm among students, faculty and staff. Though no bombs were ultimately found, repeated false alarms, police sweeps, campus lockdowns and evacuations disrupted classes and took a toll on the mental health of HBCU students and parents. Campuses also incurred costs as they ramped up security measures. …Some HBCU leaders also expressed annoyance about the federal grants available to respond to the threats and the onerous process to get them.
Inside Higher Ed
Four University of California campuses are joining forces to boost enrollment by recruiting former UC students who left without completing a degree.
By Katherine Knott
The University of California system wants to grow its enrollment by at least 23,000 in-state students—the equivalent of an additional campus—over the next eight years. To help reach that goal, the system is looking to adult learners with some college but no degree. The University of California Degree Completion Program, which launched this month, seeks to bring back former UC students and California residents who left college without attaining a degree and help them earn either a degree or a certificate. Nearly 6.4 million adults in California have stopped out of college—by far the largest group of the nation’s 39 million total, according to National Student Clearinghouse Research Center data. UC’s campuses in Davis and Riverside are spearheading the program, which also includes the Santa Barbara and Merced campuses. The program’s work for the next two years will be supported by $4.85 million in state funding, which can be used for application fee waivers and other student support services. During that time, campus administrators hope to re-enroll nearly 800 students.
The Chronicle of Higher Education
These Are the Higher-Ed Jobs Being Refilled at the Highest Rates
By Audrey Williams June
The size of higher education’s work force has been largely restored to what it was before the pandemic began, but it hasn’t been clear exactly which positions have been filled, even as hiring for others has languished. But new data provides an early indication of how hiring for certain positions rose as in-person events returned to colleges. The position with the greatest growth was one with a direct link to activities: event-planning assistant. Between 2020-21 and 2021-22, the number of employees who held that job was up 193 percent, according to the College and University Professional Association for Human Resources, which broke down hiring into three categories: professionals, staff, and faculty. Among the other higher-ed-professional positions that saw the most growth were institutional research analyst, and director of campus museum.
The Chronicle of Higher Education
Dare to Lead: How Administrators Can Overcome Impostor Syndrome
Higher education needs fresh ideas to evolve and survive. Why not offer a voice that has been muted?
ADVICE
By Shelley Arakawa
The summer before my senior year in high school, I went on a college tour that included a stop in Washington, D.C. Knowing I had dreams of becoming a lawyer and breaking down barriers as Thurgood Marshall did, my father took me to visit the U.S. Supreme Court. As we sat listening to the court in session, I pointed toward the bench, leaned over to my dad, and whispered, “How do I become one of those?” My father beamed with pride, and to this day, I don’t think he realized that I was pointing to the clerks sitting behind the honorable justices. There was only one woman in a black robe on the bench, and she did not look at all like me, a Japanese American. As Marian Wright Edelman once said, “It’s hard to be what you can’t see.” However, I did see myself in the folks in the back who were rummaging through papers and frantically taking notes. To be one of them someday was a reasonable, attainable goal. Leadership opportunities in higher education today are plentiful. Yet I suspect there are still many people in academe who stare at those positions and think — much as I did years ago — that they probably shouldn’t set their sights so high.
Inside Higher Ed
Academic Freedom Alliance Opposes Diversity Statements
By Colleen Flaherty
The Academic Freedom Alliance on Monday released a statement urging colleges and universities to end diversity statements as conditions of employment or promotion. “This scenario is inimical to fundamental values that should govern academic life,” the group’s statement says. “The demand for diversity statements enlists academics into a political movement, erasing the distinction between academic expertise and ideological conformity. It encourages cynicism and dishonesty.” Janet Halley, co-chair of the AFA’s Academic Committee and Eli Goldston Professor of Law at Harvard Law School, said in a separate announcement that “Academics seeking employment or promotion will almost inescapably feel pressured to say things that accommodate the perceived ideological preferences of an institution demanding a diversity statement, notwithstanding the actual beliefs or commitments of those forced to speak.” The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, among other groups, also opposes mandatory diversity statements
Higher Ed Dive
Greek life chapters are rejecting their colleges. Here’s what it means.
Fraternities disaffiliating from the University of Southern California exemplify an emerging — and dangerous — trend nationwide, experts say.
Jeremy Bauer-Wolf, Senior Reporter
In March, the University of Southern California ended a roughly five-month moratorium on fraternity activity, a ban imposed as sexual misconduct allegations against several chapters shook the campus. The highly ranked private nonprofit institution worked with Greek life student leaders last academic year to rewrite health and safety rules around parties. Those included that fraternities issue wristbands to identify students 21 and older and post security guards at entrances, and stairwells and hallways leading to bedrooms. But USC says these policies have chafed fraternity members, prompting at least eight chapters as of Friday afternoon to spurn university control.
Higher Ed Dive
Improve training and men’s social connections to combat campus sexual assault, report suggests
Laura Spitalniak, Associate Editor
Dive Brief:
Male college students aren’t aware of the extent of sexual violence on campus and feel separated from its effects, according to researchers who interviewed young men for a new report from It’s On Us, an organization dedicated to preventing campus sexual assault. Despite this, a majority of men on campus wanted to help but felt ill-prepared because of a lack of substantive training. Most received at least one training on gender-based violence in college, but respondents called the experience ineffective, boring and disconnected. Overwhelmingly, the men interviewed were more likely to be empathetic and act to stop sexual assault if they have strong female role models or friends, or if someone in their family or immediate social circle survived sexual assault.