Emma Kate Fittes
Editor's note: This story has been updated to reflect a legal name change.
The Pineshelf room of the L.A. Pittenger Student Center burst into applause as freshman international business major Justin Jovceski threw a padded male volunteer to the ground during the Elemental Sexual Assault Protection Program.
Jovceski allowed himself a small smile as he walked to the back of the line of students waiting to defend themselves against a simulated attacker attempting to remove their clothes.
The Elemental program that runs through Sept. 15, is seven and a half hours of To-Shin Do inspired self-defense training in which participants learn different responses to threats of sexual assault ranging from a stranger on the street to a boyfriend or girlfriend on a bed.
"I've done other sexual assault programs through churches and stuff. With those other ones, it was mostly just pamphlets and handouts. This was completely hands on. You walk in and the first things you see are two mattresses and people in padded suits. It's like 'wow, this is going to get real,'" Jovceski, who attended the Aug. 25 session, said.
Chad Menning, an associate professor of sociology, was the original visionary of the Elemental program. He noticed through his 26 years of martial arts training that the tendency was to teach both male and females the same kind of defense.
With help from about 15 Ball State students and the Virginia B. Ball Center for Creative Inquiry, Menning created this program with the hopes of encouraging diversity of defensive responses as well as diversity of members.
"We wanted to do something that was practical for situations that most students would face. We wanted a program that would give people choice," Menning said. "We also noticed that at the time we were developing this, there were no sexual assault protection programs that dealt with the needs of the [lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer] population, especially gay men ... So we decided to address that need as well."
Each scenario is introduced using a video made by Ball State students. As it plays out, members discuss the "uh-oh" moments with the instructors and are then shown different verbal and physical responses.
Following To-Shin Do ideology, the varieties of responses are categorized into earth, fire, water and wind emotions and personalities.
Mellisa Holtzman, co-director and instructor of Elemental, said earth represents confidence, fire is connected, wind is vanishing and water is surprise.
Participants then are given the opportunity to practice their responses with each other or on padded martial arts volunteers, referred to as "creepers," while the instructors share tips.
"The fact that this one really has people who will act out the situations with you that are men that are comfortable doing it with the other male participants really gave me a real life scenario to work with," Jovceski said. "Rape really sees no gender, it really doesn't. Part of the reason I am in this program ... is that there was prior experience with sexual assault. And now I couldn't feel more equipped."
Holtzman, also an associate professor of sociology, tries to make participants comfortable by keeping the potentially heavy material light.
"There's lots of cheering and laughing, they're very proud of themselves. This one girl goes 'I'm a badass!' You see a lot of change in their attitude." Holtzman said. "They don't have to have 25 years of experience to be able to protect themselves."
For Jovceski, the program made him feel more comfortable on campus.
"I feel your confidence, your self-esteem and your self worth, all lumped together, really does increase." Jovceski said. "Go out in pursuit of your own safety and reach out to programs like this, no matter who you are."
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There are two remaining sessions left in the program:
Session 5 - Sept. 11 and 13 from 7-10 p.m.
Session 6- Sept. 15 from 9 a.m. - 5:30 p.m.
Refreshments are provided.
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