To the Editor:
I am heartened to see this paper engaging in the debate about the Women Peer Counselor Program. As a sexual health advocate, and former first-year student, I think it is critical that the WPCs as a group are sufficiently trained to deal with their core issues. Lucy Stephenson '13 commits the fallacy of the beard when she argues that because WPCs cannot "train for years," any training they receive is pointless ("WPCs are worth having around," Oct. 20). Providing training on how to speak to a victim of sexual assault should not be a controversial position.
If the Office of Residential Life is unable or unwilling to provide training to WPCs on how they can fulfill their mission of facilitating and perpetuating discussion of their eight core issues, then the leadership of the WPC program must make changes. To sit idly within an organization that does not provide the necessary training to carry out a still vital mission is to fail to fulfill their duty to first-year students at Brown. First-years deserve to live in residence halls where their WPCs are trained in what they claim to see as important.
As a sexual health advocate, I know the importance of training. The issues of sexual assault and eating disorders are too emotionally charged to approach naively. WPCs must receive specialized training if they wish to meet their mission statement. I support Reed McNab '12 and Leigh Carroll '12 in their call for WPCs to leave ResLife. The Minority Peer Counselor program broke with ResLife but stayed in the residence halls. WPCs must do the same if ResLife continues to marginalize the program. ResLife must recognize the continuing impact of these issues on the men and women of Brown University.
Timothy Peacock '12
