Man of Strength educates his peers

Wright State University student Matthew Conaway has taken on the men of Wright State’s campus, challenging them to take a closer look at their behavior towards women.

Conaway is the founder of Wright State’s chapter of Men of Strength (MOST), a youth program sponsored by the Men Can Stop Rape organization. MOST is the country’s premier violence prevention program for mobilizing young men to prevent sexual and dating violence.

“Coming from the little bubble of high school into the college world,” says Conaway, “I realized there was a lot of stuff that was going on that was really terrible, and I noticed a lot of men didn’t speak up about it.”

He says that some of the close friends he made at Wright State were women who were survivors of sexual assault. His friends’ experiences, as well as a course on African Politics, taught by December Green, Ph.D., opened his eyes to the prevalence of violence against women.

“It gave me a righteous anger,” he says.

So he set out to solve the problem.

Together with a close friend, Conaway lobbied student organizations to raise money to bring Keith Edwards, Ph.D., to Wright State’s campus. Edwards is a national speaker and trainer on diversity, social justice and college men’s issues.

Edwards’ presentation was titled “She Fears You.” He explained to the audience that sometimes, merely being a man holds the power to make many women afraid, and that men especially should speak out against violence against women.

At the end of Edwards’ presentation, Conaway stepped onstage to announce that he would be starting a MOST club on campus. He started out with seven or eight committed members, and went from there.

Conaway says he started the club because he wanted a place for men to talk with other men about women. He sometimes felt uncomfortable in women’s studies classes because many classes are supposed to be a space where women can be open and comfortable, and when a man comes into class it creates a different dynamic.

Conaway did some research and found that there were many college administrators and educators who had discovered a vital secret in social justice education: “more men listen to a man.”

Conaway says this is an unfortunate truth, but admits that it works. “Men can use their privilege of being a man–and I do think being a man is a privilege–in a good way, to be a role model and an educator to other men.”

So far, Conaway’s MOST club has effected positive change on campus. Though he recently lost many of his key members to graduation, Conaway says that MOST has become more of a loose coalition than a club, with members and affiliates in many different student organizations promoting the agenda of sexual assault prevention.

“It’s a different approach than I initially started with,” admits Conaway, “but it works.”

MOST has teamed up with several feminist organizations on campus to sponsor events, such as a workshop with Women of Strength titled “What Not to Say to Survivors.”

Conaway says he feels like the workshop helped men understand the mentality of sexual assault survivors and how to talk to them about their experiences.

“When a lot of men get that light bulb effect, that ah-ha moment,” says Conaway, “that’s really when I can see a positive effect.”