Last updated on Jan 24, 2024
By Kendall Shamus, Staff Writer
RISE is one of Post’s most notable new groups making waves on campus. RISE’s mission statement states “RISE is an organization on campus aiming to support important causes that students believe in. Our main cause is sexual assault prevention, education and support for survivors at LIU Post. RISE participates in philanthropy, educational experiences and community events. Intended to be a network of individuals, RISE is here to listen to the stories of those in need and to provide resources for everyone on campus to use.”
RISE hosts educational events aimed at building awareness for sexual assault prevention, as well as light-hearted events involving bingo and trivia games. The founders began RISE after they felt that there were not any clubs like that on campus. RISE was founded by all-female group of students in the Spring 2022 semester. Some of the original founders include Class of 2023 alumnae Emma Robinson and Miranda Ruiz, as well as current senior and RISE President Emma Thibodeau. While the founders considered making the organization another sorority on campus, they opted to create a club that was more accessible for all students.
Junior psychology major Dianna Rainone, who serves as the chairperson of events, shared why she joined RISE.
“I feel like there wasn’t something on campus that spoke to me the way that RISE does,” she said. “I know with RISE it’s not just specifically mental health, but it’s helping other people in general. I feel like that is a huge part of what I like to do. Helping other people makes me feel good, so I wanted to be a part of the organization that does that most.”
RISE hosts frequent events on campus. One of their goals is to educate the student body with interactive events rather than just presentations.
“We do a lot of educational events, and we’ve done presentations,” Rainone said. “We also try and do fun events like bingo and trivia, and we will incorporate our message into there. For example, we did a trivia where it was fun questions, and then halfway through it was questions about sexual assault statistics on campuses and stuff like that.”
Since Rainone is the chairperson of events for RISE this semester, she shared her favorite event she has planned in her position.
“The biggest event was the spooky night one, that was my favorite one so far because that’s kind of our biggest one that we’ve had yet this year,” Rainone said. “It was super fun, especially seeing behind the scenes – that was super, super cool. Getting to hire scare actors and sit down with them and hang out with them was so cool.”
Sophomore psychology major Alex Carlson serves as the secretary for RISE this year. Carlson shared that her favorite event was last semester’s Take Back the Night.
“We had two personally favored events, Celebrate the Day and Take Back the Night,” Carlson said. “From 5 p.m. to 8 p.m., there were outside organizations that came to table, and all the money we raised went to the Safe Center of Long Island. And then at 8 p.m. we all we went around campus with candles. It was pretty cool and it was nice to see the campus come together for something good.”
If you are looking to get involved in RISE on campus, you can follow them on Instagram @liupostrise and join their Presence page. They host their general meetings every other Wednesday which are open to all students. Look out for upcoming events from RISE this semester and this spring.
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