On April 23, 2015, Vice President Joe Biden visited the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign campus to talk candidly about sexual assault and the victimization of women. Biden is visiting college campuses to promote President Barack Obama's "It's On Us" initiative, which asks Americans to stand up against secual violence. Gamma Chapter members were invited into the VIP section because of the organization's involvement in the "It's On Us" campaign and the chapter's leadership in the program.
Gamma members Saagar Gupta, '12, Nick Fulton, '13, Joe Bird, '14, Aaron Bruder, '11 and Hugh Harris, Pledge are pictured with the Vice President.
The "It's On Us" campaign seeks to empower college students, and all members of campus communities, not only to respond effectively to sexual assault, but also to prevent it. This campaign was launched in 2014, and in partnership with student leadership at nearly 200 colleges and universities across the country, the NCAA and private companies that have strong connections with students. The goal is to create an environment where sexual assault is unacceptable and survivores are supported.
In March of 2015, the Fraternity of Alpha Kappa Lambda announced a partnership with "It's On Us". As a strong advocate of raising awareness and funds for domestic violence and sexual assualt prevention and intervention, AKL established "These Hands Don' Hurt" in 1998. The hallmark for this program is the "Promise Wall", where individuals make a suggested donation of $1 and place their hand-print on the wall, committing to prevention and intervention. As part of this partnership with "It's On Us", all chapters will be encouraged to ask Promise Wall participants to take the "It's On Us" pledge and lead the charge with campaign efforts on their campuses.