St. Thomas’ feminist group, FemCom, said “goodbye” to derogatory language and stereotyping when its members wrote a public address to the student body.

Robun Morgan’s book “Good-Bye to All of That” served as the group’s inspiration. The document, which was shared on Facebook through a Google document, aims to make St. Thomas a more inclusive campus.

Sophomore Madelyn Larsin, one of the document’s writers, said FemCom decided to take action after noticing several issues like offensive language and objectifying women on campus.

“We wouldn’t have written the document if we didn’t think this campus struggled with these issues,” Larsin said. “I would say that there’s definitely a pervasive culture on campus that we would like to see modified and redefined.”

The document “says goodbye” to several things, including “believing freedom of speech negates accountability,” “thinking your voice isn’t loud enough,” “thinking anyone was asking for it (sex),” “thinking appearance defines character,” “neglecting mental wellness” and “taking educational experiences for granted.”

Senior Allison Muotka, another author of the document, said she thinks “goodbye to ever thinking anyone’s asking for it” is the most important issue in the address.

“I do think we have a huge problem with rape culture on campus and that would fall into ‘goodbye to ever thinking anyone’s asking for it,’” Muotka said. “That’s not OK. That’s not healthy language.”

Sophomore Jake Powell said he doesn’t notice a rape culture problem on campus, but thinks students engage in the language because it is perceived as “funny.”

“I don’t notice an absurd amount (of rape jokes),” Powell said. “Obviously rape is a serious issue, and no one takes it lightly.”

Larsin said she hopes the document makes students realize that using this kind of language is offensive.

“I think sometimes people don’t realize that behaviors that they’re enacting, they don’t know they’re wrong or hurtful or disrespectful,” Larsin said. “I think this document gives a lot of really great examples that are like, ‘This is an offensive comment and maybe you shouldn’t make that anymore.’”

FemCom has received support from faculty, including Communication and Journalism Department Chair Wendy Wyatt.

“I just stand for everything the document says,” Wyatt said. “I think it’s so important to try to build a climate on campus that is supportive of everybody and where everybody feels comfortable.”

Freshman Meredith Heneghan said the group has received positive feedback.

“Everyone has fully supported it and really appreciated that this is a grassroot student effort,” Heneghan said. “It wasn’t for a class, it wasn’t for credit, you know, this was all just something that we’re really passionate about.”

Wyatt said the university has become more accepting and inclusive as time has gone on, but there is still room for improvement. She thinks student-led grassroots efforts are beneficial.

“In the 10 years I’ve been here, I think I’ve seen a shift, where people may have sort of been marginalized in the past, those groups are feeling better,” Wyatt said. “I think we should never give up … and I hope that students would take the words of other students seriously.”

Kayla Bengtson can be reached at beng2004@stthomas.edu.