Mike Domitrz Wants to Know, Do You Ask?
Shanna L. Rasmussen Staff Reporter
Issue date: 9/22/05 Section: News
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All 800 seats were filled and about 20 students stood against the walls.
Mike Domitrz spoke for the first of six Student Affairs lectures to be held this school year. The lecture was called "Can I Kiss You?" he covered issues within the areas of dating and sexual assault. All first year students were required to attend.
The vast majority of students were engaged throughout the entire discussion.
When Domitrz asked for responses from the audience the room roared with, "Yes!" and "No!"
The first topic discussed pertained to body language. Domitrz explained that body language is an important way to communicate while dating, but it is not the only way.
Each partner should ask before touching the other person because body language can easily be misread. Asking, "Can I kiss you?" can eliminate unwanted advances resulting in hard feelings and possible guilt.
"You should take equal responsibility in relationships," said Mike Domitrz.
The lecture aimed to teach students not to objectify themselves.
"When you act like an object, you will be treated like an object, you don't seem real," said Domitrz.
Domitrz created humorous dating scenarios throughout the lecture in order to show the students how effective verbal communication can be in preventing any unwanted and potentially harmful situations.
The lecture went into depth about sexual assault. Domitrz's sister was raped, so sexual assault is a topic that is very important to him.
"I would grow to discover that survivors of sexual assault are amazing people," said Domitrz.
Domitrz aims to promote the phrase "Do you ask?" rather than "No means no." The fact is that most people do not ask before they make sexual advances.
In the case of a sexual assault it is usually left to the victim to say yes or no even if they are not asked. Domitrz would rather scrutiny be put on the advancer to determine if they asked or not. Silence is not an open invitation.