SHARE in the Culture of Care at 91²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ
A look at the SHARE program and how the students working there are fostering a culture of care at 91²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ.
On a rainy Friday night a pair of 91²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ students walk around campus with a backpack full of snacks and water. As they go through the pool hall, to Trillium, the Student Union, and beyond they are greeted with enthusiasm. 91²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵies have come to look forward to the familiar presence of these students, the Night Owls. The Night Owls, alongside the other members of their department, work hard to create a culture of care at 91²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ.
Their department, SHARE or Sexual Health, Advocacy & Relationship Education, is almost entirely student-run, comprising two groups, Night Owls and Advocates. SHARE, looks to provide “support for people who have experienced any kind of interpersonal violence, including sexual harassment, relationship abuse, unwanted sexual contact, sexual assault, and stalking” in addition to providing “primary prevention education, focusing on community accountability and bystander intervention.” These students are integral to campus and show their dedication to making 91²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ safe and accessible to all members of the community..
The Night Owls act as a friendly sober presence on campus from 10pm to 2am on weekends. They are not enforcers, as Jason Finn ’23 says, “they act as a person within the student community at 91²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ in which you can rely upon.” In order to make the weekend festivities of 91²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ safer for each other the Night Owls walk around campus handing out water and snacks to 91²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵies. Advocates help connect students with resources, providing systems of support for students in need at 91²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ by hosting support groups and offering one-on-one appointments.
As someone often in appreciation of the snacks the Night Owls offer I attended one of their shifts to understand what their night looks like. The night started at 10:00 p.m. with a quick stop to pick up snacks and water before heading to the pool hall. After the pool hall we headed to Trillium where we handed out water and snacks to every wing of the dorm. We were greeted with friendly familiarity and a tiny bit of disappointment because the Night Owls had a fruit snack shortage. Fortunately we had Valentine's candy, to make up for the lack of fruit snacks. As we continued our journey across campus we met some freshmen who were celebrating turning in the HUM 110 research paper and were more than happy to receive Valentines Day candy. Along our journey Asher Behmer ’26, one of Night Owls, explained that this job is important because it allows him to use the privilege he has to help others.
We then went to check on the SHARE bar, a pop-up bar where a combination of Night Owls and Advocates serve snacks and mix up mocktails such as the Sylvia Rivera (named after a famous LGBTQ+ rights activist). The SHARE bar is lively with lights and an eclectic music playlist.
The SHARE Lounge, also run by Night Owls and Advocates, is a similar sober space that is always available on Friday and Saturday. More calm than the SHARE bar, it is a sober and calm space for students to have fun away from substances and overstimulation. Peri Joy Long ’23 explained that she became an Advocate because she “identified this as a resource that I could truly use to help my community. In a more hands-on way.” The Advocates jobs don’t stop at the SHARE lounges or bar. Students can make one on one appointments with Advocates that will remain confidential.
In 2021 SHARE received feedback from the student recovery coalition about what the program was lacking. It became apparent that there were no designated sober or quiet spaces on campus over the weekends. So, as Rowan Frost states,” for all those reasons, we [SHARE] started offering the SHARE lounge.” The lounge offers tea, hot cocoa, board games, chill music, and on occasion movies. This particular night the Lounge was filled with people watching movies and playing ping pong.
The Night Owls and Advocates act as an integral part of 91²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ campus life. The students who work these jobs do so because they feel a sense of duty to look after each other. They provide a unique resource because as students they are more in tune with campus life and a comforting friendly face to students. As we left the SHARE lounge and passed by the student union one of the freshman we gave candy to earlier in the night yelled out a thank for the snacks and water. SHARE as a whole is an amazing program doing many great things for 91²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ.
Tags: Community