CAPE’S Monthly Newsletter
By The CAPE Project, Doane University
What’s Coming Up?
April is Sexual Assault Prevention Month!
Discrete resources & information for students, staff & faculty will be hung & dispersed across campus, all month in bathrooms & residence halls. Have an additional space for these resources? Let us know!
April 2nd-30th: The start of the “What Were You Wearing?” Display put up on Crete’s campus for the month of April. This exhibit is an installation answering the question frequently asked of survivors. This event features narratives & re-creations of outfits based on survivors’ experiences.
April 17th-30th: The Clothes Line Project is an opportunity for students to create and share a visual display of decorated shirts that include violence statistics that often go ignored. Students will be decorating shirts on the 17th & 18th & will be hung up on the 22nd.
April 17th: Chalking on campus with HCC. Hope Crisis Center will join peer educators to chalk encouraging messages on campus.
April 24th: Denim Day is an event in which people are encouraged to wear denim to combat victim blaming and educate others about sexual violence. Wear your favorite pair of jeans!
April 28th: #Steps4Them Community 5k — cohosted by the Chi Delta Sorority. Come join us at
10 am on the Doane Cross Country course to run for a cause! 4$ same-day registration or check the Doane Website for online registration coming soon! All proceeds will go to Hope Crisis Center!
New Project Director
Jaden Hilkemann, a recent graduate of Doane in 2023 & previous CAPE peer educator, has assumed the role of CAPE Project Director. She began her tenure in December & is enthusiastic about advancing the initiatives of the CAPE project. Her initial focus has been on attending the February TTI, engaging with CCRT members, & ensuring students have access to necessary resources. If you haven’t had the opportunity to meet Jaden yet, feel free to reach out to her to schedule a meeting!!
January — March
- Successfully submitted January Progress Report.
- Initiated individual CCRT reintroduction efforts, including meetings with the Crete Chief of Police & directors from Hope Crisis Center & Voices of Hope.
- Continued all athletic education presentations & introduced project director to all head coaches to strengthen relationships between CAPE & athletics.
- Developed three new educational/prevention opportunities for students, tailored for Fraternities, Sororities, & Performing Arts Groups.
- Organized a series of Valentine’s Day Events to educate students on Healthy Relationships.
- Participated in the TTI conference in Atlanta.
- Hosted an International Women’s Day Event on March 8th, highlighting the achievements and recognizing the hurdles faced by women at Doane.
- Editing & Preparing for a Campus Climate Survey to be sent out to gather data from students, aiming to better understand the issues they face.
- Initiated the application/hiring process for the next cohort of Peer Educators who will commence in the fall.
OVW TTI
At the end of February, CAPE attended the Technical Training Institute (TTI) conference hosted by the Office of Violence Against Women (OVW) in Atlanta, Georgia. We were delighted to welcome four internal staff members from Doane: Jaden Hilkemann (Project Director), Luis Sotelo (DEI VP), Andreea Baker (Health and Wellness Director), & Emily Hand (Assistant Director of Residence Life). Additionally, we were thrilled to have three of our external partners join us: Jody Brott from the Lincoln Police Department, Melanie Martinez from the Crete Police Department, and Alyssa Christensen from Voices of Hope in Lincoln.
During the conference, participants were divided into different tracks focusing on law enforcement, prevention, and student conduct. It proved to be a valuable learning and bonding experience for all. We extend our sincere gratitude to everyone who represented Doane University at the event. We are eager to leverage the knowledge gained to further strengthen our CCRT relationships and better serve the students, staff, and faculty at Doane.
The blog posts in Forward. Together. are intended to foster an inclusive community of empathy and curiosity at Doane University by providing a glimpse into various individual identities and worldviews. These are community members’ unique stories and should not be presumed to be the experience of all who share the same identity.
