North Texas Daily

Nicholas Friedman | Editor-in-Chief

@NMFreed

College Humor released a new PSA in partnership with the White House this month as part of a national initiative called #ItsOnUs aimed at sexual assault awareness on college campuses.

The spot, which stars New Girl’s Jake Johnson and Lamorne Morris, Rob Riggle and David Walton, has the four men arguing about the live bear in their apartment. The bear, in this case, represents sexual assault, and it’s up to Jake Johnson to tell his friends about it.

“What’s going on with these assaults is getting so crazy,” Johnson said. “People like to put it on other people, but college kids are in a community where everyone needs to be responsible.”

Last year President Obama created a national sexual assault task force to work with campuses around the country. The program encompasses over 150 national organizations, entities and media outlets. This was where the #ItsOnUs campaign began.

Johnson joined the initiative when College Humor executive producer Spencer Griffin reached out to him earlier this year. Griffin had been working on ideas with Valerie Jarrett on how to address the college crowd about sexual assault. College Humor is currently the most viewed comedy channel on YouTube, with more than 10 million subscribers.

“It’s important for us to reach and engage our audience to be part of the solution,” Griffin said. “We had to think of ways to leverage comedy and break through to this generation.”

Griffin said he thinks the bear metaphor drives that point home. In the video, the men argue over whether or not they should tell anyone about the bear and get mad at Johnson when he says it’s not his responsibility.

“Any time we have the ability to use humor to activate people around a serious topic, it’s a very great and fulfilling thing,” Griffin said.

Here at UNT, a sexual assault task force works to promote awareness on a campus full of students. In a report released by Trojan and BestPlaces this month, UNT is ranked No. 77 in sexual health nationally.

“How can I, and how can we, train our neighbors on ‘if they see something, say something?’” Dean of Students Maureen McGuinness told the North Texas Daily earlier this year. “Even if that’s a bystander, how do we train a bystander to pay attention to red flags and speak out?”

This motion is echoed in the new PSA.

“It’s a rallying cry to invite everyone to step up and engage with their campus,” Jarrett said. “Solutions begin with us, and all of us.”

Feature Image: A screenshot from the PSA on sexual assault from College Humor. Courtesy | College Humor