Interns from the Jean Miller Resource Room hosted a community discussion on Jan. 29 at the Multicultural Center.
In the meeting, ideas were taken from De Anza’s community about opening a center for women, gender and sexuality. The center would provide students, faculty and staff with information and resources to women, gender and sexuality issues.
Topics discussed included providing an area for nursing mothers, as well as moral support and resources for people who come out to their friends and families and are turned away.
The topic everyone in the room agreed on was the need for a center where people can feel free to hang out in a safe environment.
Both the host and community agreed that the goal of this center is to provide women with safety on campus, in light of last week’s incident in which, a female student was assaulted while walking by the planetarium, on Jan. 28. The community discussed the incident and what can be done to provide a safe environment.
“It is critical that we come together as a community to demand a safer campus,”  Matthew Fravega, intern at the Jean Miller Resource Room, posted on Facebook.
Brian Murphy, De Anza College president, also discussed the recent assault.
“Assaults on campus are systematically under-reported and if anyone knows of someone who has suffered an assault, encourage them to come forward and report it,” Murphy said. He said he supported the development of a safe environment for women.
The meeting was just a start of what promises to bring big changes to the De Anza campus.
Tara Swan, 20, photography major,  said, “It was a great start-off point. They can’t cover everything in a short period of time, but it should be continued.”