The purpose of this article is to describe a service-learning partnership between a human sexuality class and a community agency that assists those affected by intimate partner violence and sexual assault, and the benefits of the service-learning experience from the viewpoints of two of the students

Jenkins, Dusty D.

Pentecost, Victoria

Willis, Alexis M.

English

North Georgia College & State University: Digital Commons

Journal of Community Engagement and Scholarship
Volume 11 | Issue 1 Article 9
May 2019
Twas a Thursday in Class…
Victoria Pentecost
Stephen F. Austin State University
Alexis M. Willis
Stephen F. Austin State University
Dusty D. Jenkins
Stephen F. Austin State University
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Recommended Citation
Pentecost, Victoria; Willis, Alexis M.; and Jenkins, Dusty D. (2019) "Twas a Thursday in Class…," Journal of Community Engagement
and Scholarship: Vol. 11 : Iss. 1 , Article 9.
Available at: https://digitalcommons.northgeorgia.edu/jces/vol11/iss1/9
Vol. 11, No. 1—JOURNAL OF COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT AND SCHOLARSHIP—Page 59
Twas a Thursday in Class…
Victoria Pentecost, Alexis M. Willis, 
and Dusty D. Jenkins
Unfortunately, it is not hard to say that inti-
mate partner violence (IPV) and sexual assault are 
prevalent in college populations. For instance, one 
study found that 30–34% of relationships in three 
samples of American college students involved 
some form of physical violence over the course 
of one year (Straus & Ramirez, 2007). Likewise, 
young women are reported to have an elevated risk 
of sexual victimization compared to adult women 
of other ages, and college men have a much higher 
rate of experiencing sexual violence than non-col-
lege men of the same age (Sinozich & Langton, 
2014). The public should keep in mind, however, 
that it is estimated that most incidents of sexual 
victimization go unreported to law enforcement 
(Fisher, Cullen, & Turner, 2000). Thus, a college 
campus is not necessarily a safe space when it 
comes to IPV or sexual assault. 
Recently in our undergraduate honors human 
sexuality class we were given the option to learn 
about IPV and sexual assault via a service-learning 
partnership with a local family crisis center. Stu-
dents from our class chose to work in support roles 
to assist those impacted by IPV or sexual assault, 
to help with prevention efforts, or to do both. We 
were trained by and worked with a local family cri-
sis center whose mission is to educate and to assist 
those affected by IPV and sexual assault. The hope 
was to increase students’ knowledge of important 
topics related to class (i.e., IPV and sexual assault), 
and to offer real-world learning experiences that 
would be valuable for students when later applying 
for jobs or entrance into graduate school. The next 
sections describe how two students in the class, 
Victoria and Alexis, benefited. 
Victoria’s Reflection 
My name is Victoria Pentecost and I was a 
sophomore psychology major, minoring in crim-
inal justice, when I took this class. I chose to do 
the support and prevention roles because I want to 
eventually be a counselor for victims of sex crimes. 
The service learning, in the curriculum of our 
human sexuality class, really helped. We not only 
read about important topics, we were able to see it 
firsthand and fight for awareness and for victims 
by being involved on campus and in the commu-
nity. In the beginning, I was nervous and unable to 
clearly pin down what skills I had as a new college 
student to offer to our community partner. But I 
went through training and started actually doing 
service, and I began to realize what I could do as a 
part of the crisis center’s team. I learned what risk 
factors are, how we can minimize risk factors, what 
rape culture is, how it affects both men’s and wom-
en’s lives, how to communicate with a recent sexual 
assault survivor, and so much more. Because of the 
service learning, I now feel so much more confi-
dent and prepared to talk about these issues than I 
would just learning about them in a textbook and 
class. As part of service learning, we had dialogues 
with leaders on campus and in the community 
on how we can actively change things—and that 
is something I never would have gotten in a tradi-
tional classroom setting. 
The service-learning experience allowed me to 
transfer skills I had learned to a wider audience. 
For instance, I was able to become the service offi-
cer in the local chapter of a national service-based 
organization, and translate skills that I had learned, 
such as honing in on the needs of the local com-
munity, and being able to establish and maintain 
connections with community leaders. Finally, 
some of the most personally impactful outcomes of 
the service-learning class are that I have been able 
to identify toxic/abusive attitudes among myself 
and others, and have been able to meaningfully 
contribute to classroom and friendly conversations 
on these topics. As an aspiring counselor, getting 
practice in encouraging others to seek healthy 
change is an invaluable asset. 
Alexis’s Reflection
My name is Alexis M. Willis and I chose to 
Abstract
The purpose of this article is to describe a service-learning partnership between a human sexuality 
class and a community agency that assists those affected by intimate partner violence and sexual assault, 
and the benefits of the service-learning experience from the viewpoints of two of the students.
1
Pentecost et al.: Twas a Thursday in Class…
Published by Nighthawks Open Institutional Repository, 2019
Vol. 11, No. 1—JOURNAL OF COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT AND SCHOLARSHIP—Page 60
work on the service-learning project because I 
always wanted to work with victims of abuse. 
I was a junior majoring in psychology with a 
minor in child development and family living, and 
I believed that working on the project would help 
me to solidify my career path. I must say that the 
training with our community partner for the proj-
ect was initially difficult. For instance, it was the 
first time I had learned about the full process of a 
rape kit. Moreover, I was disheartened to hear from 
our trainer that it might take up to two years for 
the survivors of an assault to get the results of the 
rape kit in the state in which we reside. However, 
through the training I learned so much more than 
I had ever anticipated.
One thing I did was promote prevention efforts 
through numerous campus events. Some of those 
events included hosting a self-defense class for 
women, and handing out information about IPV 
and sexual assault resources to students. Yet per-
haps most impactful for me was the bulletin board 
we set up in the Department of Psychology, which 
aimed to get information about sexual assault and 
the campus resources out to students. We created 
an interactive bulletin board, using “Love Should” 
posters that were collected during self-defense 
classes, and also left blank ones for students to take, 
write their answers on, and tack back on the board. 
The posters said, “Love should _____.” We thought 
the posters would be eye catching and also make 
people stop and contemplate what they believe love 
is. One of the biggest impacts was when in just a 
few days after putting up the board, I walked by 
to see that the board was completely filled with 
posters of people’s ideas of what love should and 
should not be! Seeing it so completely filled after 
only a few days made me feel proud, because it was 
something that made an impact by getting people 
discussing important issues. 
In addition to promoting prevention, I also 
served in an on-call support position. The first 
weekend I was on call I felt both excited and 
scared. I questioned my abilities to actually provide 
support to an individual who had gone through a 
traumatic experience. By the end of the weekend, 
I had not been called out, and I was a little disap-
pointed that my training had not been put into use; 
but more so, there was just immense relief to know 
that no one in my area needed help because of a 
sexual assault that weekend. 
I continued to volunteer with the community 
agency after the course ended, and my experi-
ences with the agency opened the door for me to 
do a summer internship with another local agency. 
I also branched out to work with other campus 
organizations to help spread awareness about sex-
ual violence. I have now graduated from college 
and will continue my journey of working with a 
rape and suicide crisis center in my hometown, 
while also pursuing a master’s degree in social 
work. Overall, through service learning I gained a 
better understanding of what it truly means to be 
helpful and giving, and how I want to better my 
community and the world around me. I also real-
ized in hind-sight that I had originally signed up 
for service learning thinking that I would make 
a difference in someone else’s life, but the truth is 
I came out of it a better and more understanding 
person of the world around me and the people in 
it who are striving to make it a better place. 
Victoria and Alexis’s Creative Reflection
At the end of the semester, we did classroom 
presentations about our service-learning experi-
ences. Our professor encouraged us to be creative. 
Because we had been working side-by-side all 
semester in our service-learning roles, we decided 
to work together on our presentation, and to our 
professor’s delight, we took her up on her sugges-
tion to get creative! We wrote a short story to the 
rhythm of “Twas the Night Before Christmas,” 
and upon closing, we provide the (slightly more 
polished) version here. We hope that others are 
inspired to know that there is a real need for help in 
the fields of IPV and sexual assault prevention, and 
to know that while making a meaningful impact 
on others and learning about important issues, 
there is still room for having fun!
Ch. 1 – A Chance of a Lifetime
Twas a Thursday in class, and all through 
the room, 
the students were buzzing, “who, who, 
who?” 
there were guests in the corner, strangers 
to us, 
but our professor said, that these we 
could trust.
We listened with wonder, looking for 
someone to work under 
As they told us the story of the Family 
Crisis Center. 
Immediately we knew, we didn’t want to 
work with just one, but two!
A lesson from our mentor:
When you help others, you help yourself, 
too!
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Ch. 2 – It Doesn’t Take a Rocket Scientist (but 
maybe a SANE1 Nurse) 
Paperwork, paperwork, paperwork we 
sifted through
Confidentiality agreements needed our 
signatures too! 
Quinn2 gave us facts about all that they do
As we finished training, she said, “and 
now, it’s up to you!” 
Then we met with Lissy3, and that was a 
long training
It was important, yet mentally draining. 
We explored lots of ways someone can 
be hurt
And that it definitely is not always some-
one in a skirt 
We signed up and set out 
Updated our calendars too 
Ready for anything, and to help more 
than a few 
Ch. 3 – Working with Quinn
The SAVE4 Coalition 
To serve is its mission 
So, for volunteer ideas we were fishin’ 
Dr. Jenkins stepped in, and helped with 
our woes
A board on the wall (we could only reach 
on our tip toes)
It came out great
The impression we left was everlasting 
So many people caught 
The message we were broadcasting 
We learned a lot, too, on freshman 
recruitment day
Even if it started rough, the two of us got 
tough and put our worries away
Quinn let us go free, initially we were scared
From the ups to the downs, only smiles 
we bared
We set up a table, flyers in hand
We found students who were willing to 
take a stand
They pledged alongside us (for a gift, well 
earned) 
After talking with us, there was so much 
they learned
Throughout all this, there was but one 
true obstacle
Scary parents that we later found comical 
All in all, they left knowing their kids 
would be safe and could stay
And they were encouraged to come back, 
and live the SFA Way5 
Ch. 4 – Working with Lissy 
Waiting in anticipation 
We were tempted with evasion 
But when no call came through
We found ourselves sad and blue
There was celebration in safety 
Yet somehow we felt, that 
without a call under our belts,
Our experience was hazy
In the end, we were grateful. The opportunity
was given 
And after this is done we will continue 
the mission 
Ch. 5 – Lumberjacks6 Make Great IPV and 
Sexual Assault Educators 
As we look back and reflect
A few things we could not neglect
The lessons we taught 
And the stigma we fought 
Were nothing compared 
To the excitement we shared 
The moral of service learning? 
Making a difference is hard
But it gets your spirits burning! 
 
 Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner
2 One of our agency supervisors
3 Another agency supervisor
4 Sexual Assault Violence Education, a volunteer group of concerned 
community members hosted by the Family Crisis Center
5 Our university’s root principles of respect, caring, responsibility, unity, 
and integrity
6 Our school mascot
3
Pentecost et al.: Twas a Thursday in Class…
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References
Fisher, B.S., Cullen, F.T., & Turner, M.G. 
(2000). The sexual victimization of college women 
(Report No. NCJ 182369). Retrieved from the 
National Criminal Justice Reference Service 
(https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/182369.pdf). 
Sinozich, S., & Langton, L. (2014). Rape and 
sexual assault victimization among college-age 
females, 1995–2013 (Report No. NCJ 248471). 
Retrieved from U.S. Department of Justice (https://
www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/rsavcaf9513.pdf).
Straus, M.A., & Ramirez, I.L. (2007). Gender 
symmetry in prevalence, severity, and chronicity 
of physical aggression against dating partners by 
university students in Mexico and USA. Aggressive 
Behavior, 33(4), 281–290. doi:10.1002/ab.20199 .
Acknowledgments
We’d like to acknowledge the staff from the 
Janelle Grum Family Crisis Center of East Texas, 
our community partners, and especially our direct 
supervisors, Quinteria Runnels and Melissa Turner.
About the Authors
At the time of this writing, Victoria Pentecost 
and Alexis M. Willis were students and Dusty D. 
Jenkins an associate professor in the Department 
of Psychology at Stephen F. Austin State University.
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Twas a Thursday in Class…

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