Former MU athlete leads fight against relationship violence
MARS is a male-focused branch of the RSVP Center.
Published Oct. 15, 2010
An All-American athlete, a former MU track star, a Detroit native: Jimmie Jones said he is the last person one would expect to lead an effort against relationship and sexual violence.
He also said he's going to change that.
"I'm a lot of different dynamics," Jones said. "All of those things are not things people would usually expect from someone representing this cause. It's not often you see someone from my background supporting this."
This year, Jones is leading the Men Against Relationship and Sexual Violence organization on campus. MARS is an outreach branch of the Relationship and Sexual Violence Prevention Center and aims to raise awareness in men, RSVP Center Coordinator Danica Pape said.
"It was more born out of a need for men to have a place to discuss issues of masculinity and challenge masculinity in a traditional sense," she said. "We have held onto it with it growing and changing. It's been around for I'm not even sure how many years, but Jimmie is helping breathe new life into it."
Driven by his desire to change the image of men who stand up to relationship and sexual violence, Jones said he committed himself to making the group flourish.
"One of my main motivations is changing what people think about males who speak out against a cause like this," Jones said. "I want to bring a different outlook to this whole cause."
Jones said MARS has existed on campus for several years, but its participation has waned. He hopes to revive the group this year.
"I'm here to get MARS back started again, add a little flavor, a little spice to it," Jones said. "I want us to have a stronger presence on campus."
In an effort to break away from what he calls the stereotypical awareness group experience, Jones will be showing different documentaries dealing with relationship and sexual violence issues. For example, on Tuesday night, MARS viewed "Hip-Hop: Beyond Beats and Rhymes," a 2006 documentary about masculinity, violence, homophobia and sexism in hip-hop music and culture.
"I'm trying to show different, interesting videos and documentaries that aren't just your cliché stuff where we're just going to sit around in a circle and discuss," Jones said. "I want it to touch different points, to be real."
Being real is exactly what Jones said MARS hopes to evoke in men on campus.
"That's my main focus: to separate the real from the cool," he said. "A lot of times grown men are so caught up in being cool that they're really not being who they know they are. They're not standing by their opinions. Instead of standing up and saying what they feel, they're worried about what everybody else is thinking. All it takes is one person to think."
Brett Dinkins, Stronger Together Against Relationship and Sexual Violence member, works predominately with STARS but said he is working behind the scenes with MARS.
"MARS and STARS are almost like brother and sister organizations, only STARS is really opened to any students and MARS is focused on men," Dinkins said. "It has a little different twist to it, but the goal is to have two working organizations that can plan events together."
Dinkins said about 20 people came to Tuesday's gathering, but Pape said she expects the group to expand over the course of time.
"I think that men who want to learn more about how our culture sustains violence should definitely check it out," she said. "That's what the movie series is all about."
MARS meets every Tuesday at varying locations and will watch a movie every other week. Both Pape and Jones encourage anyone interested to attend.
"I'm just starting to get the word out," Jones said. "I want to infiltrate a lot of different populations on this campus."
Pape said men who are interested in breaking the stereotype of men involved with the cause should attend the next meeting.
"We've had some people who are interested, but it's been a less active group, and it seems like there's a need for it to be more active," Pape said. "So many men don't feel like they have a place in this kind of work, in ending relationship and sexual violence, but the reality is they do. It takes everyone's efforts."