Students to be Guest of Vice President Joe Biden

Two Emory & Henry students who led in a campus campaign against sexual assault will travel to Washington this month to have dinner with Vice President Joe Biden.

Shane Goodpasture and Dava Napier have led E&H faculty, staff and students in past observances of the annual Red Flag Campaign and Violence Towards Women Act celebration. They are among only 10 individuals from across Virginia who have been invited to a Sept. 22 event celebrating the 16th anniversary of the passing of the federal law that strengthened the punishment and penalty for domestic offenders.

The Red Flag Campaign was launched in Virginia during 2007 and has since spread across the country to more than 100 campuses in 27 states. The campaign focuses on emotional abuse, jealousy, isolation, victim-blaming and the stalking that often occurs in an abusive relationship.

"This is an issue that I want more people to know about because it affects us all in some way at some point," Goodpasture said.

"I really wanted to get involved with Red Flag Campaign because I want to get guys involved to take a stand against sexual assault and domestic violence," Goodpasture said. "I'd also like people to recognize that both men and women are victims.”

Red Flag Week will again be taking place on the campus of Emory & Henry during the week of Oct. 18.

The event is co-sponsored by the E&H Peer Education Program, one of only two such college groups in Southwest Virginia. For more information about the Red Flag Campaign and the E&H Peer Education Program contact Jill Smeltzer at 276-944-6144.