Hunting 4 Answers brings campus safety, dating awareness discussion to CAU

Hunting 4 Answers, the advocacy and media initiative founded by journalist and producer Hunter Gilmore, hosted a campus safety discussion at Clark Atlanta University as part of the Human Sexuality Lecture Series led by Chanel Hudson, a transgender educator and activist.

Also, the panel featured therapist and licensed clinical social worker Vernique Esther.

With each panelist offering powerful perspectives on identity, faith, trauma-informed awareness, and student empowerment. Together, they unpacked the intersections of safety, social media, and self-worth in today’s cultural climate.

The panel explored campus safety, relational awareness, and dating literacy, offering students a space to learn, reflect, and engage in open dialogue about the realities of modern dating and safety culture.

Through Hunting 4 Answers, Hunter Gilmore has brought national attention to the stories of missing and murdered Black women and girls, while broadening the mission to address the root causes of violence and vulnerability.

“So many of the stories we highlight on Hunting 4 Answers remind us of what’s at stake when safety and awareness are missing,” Gilmore said. “Bringing this conversation to Clark Atlanta is about prevention, about giving students the tools, understanding, and confidence to navigate relationships safely. It’s all about fostering safety on campuses and in our communities.”

“I am ecstatic to collaborate with the amazing Hunter Gilmore during my Human Sexuality Lecture Series at the illustrious Clark Atlanta University,” Chanel said. “Blending both of our unique experiences will guarantee a comprehensive panel discussion that covers both safety and inclusivity within the AUC.”

National data reveal that one in five women and one in sixteen men experience sexual assault during college. Among students at Historically Black Colleges and Universities, approximately 14 percent of female undergraduates report having tried or near-completed assaults.

Esther said there’s so much that contributes to students being more vulnerable and susceptible to things that may not be in their best interest.

“You went from your parents’ house, for a lot of you, or whoever your caregiver was, to immediately being on your own, and that’s shocking,” she said. “I wish there were like a transitional period for people when they go to college, but a lot of us didn’t have that. I grew up experiencing homelessness, and so for me, college was the first time I had a stable home. So, a transitional period would not have been ideal for me, but it can be for others.”

Hunter says students and people need to identify what relational awareness and dating literacy are.

“Relational awareness is knowing yourself, paying attention to the dynamic between you and someone else, and being able to recognize what’s healthy and what isn’t, whether that’s emotionally, physically, or socially,” she said. “It’s the skill of noticing patterns, trusting instincts, and understanding how a relationship is making you feel so you can protect yourself.”

Dating literacy, she says, is the ability to understand what healthy dating looks like, how to build trust, communicate boundaries, recognize red flags, navigate digital interactions, and make informed, safe decisions.

Additionally, during the discussion, both O’Connor and Esther emphasized the importance of self-trust, setting boundaries, and recognizing early warning signs in relationships.

Esther highlighted the impact of relational trauma and the need for self-awareness, while O’Connor stresses the importance of community vigilance and staying informed about campus safety. They also discuss the challenges young adults face in recognizing unsafe dynamics and the role of trauma in influencing behavior.

“Being able to read the relational situation is very crucial when dating. Knowing what you want before you step into any space, knowing what your intent is, what your boundaries/standards are, expectations, knowing and being certain of yourself, all these things should be in your mind when trying to date,” Esther said. When you don’t trust that gut feeling of what you’re seeing, it can jeopardize your safety.”

O’Connor says when students come straight from high school onto a college campus, they’re inundated with people that they’ve never met before.

“You meet people you’re not familiar with, and that’s a huge part of being a college student on campus, whether it’s an HBCU or not, it’s culpable,” she said. “Holding more people culpable a lot, especially during my experience in 2009, I would hear stories of people getting sexually assaulted, and no one would be willing to speak up for fear of being embarrassed or no one believing them.”

The panelists gave these dating safety tips:

·      Know your non-negotiables and believe behavior, not words

·      Trust your intuition

·      Share your location with at least one trusted friend

·      Plan your own way home/Always have an exit strategy

·      Meet in public places first before moving to private settings

·      Keep personal items secure (purses, drinks, etc.)

·      Speak up if you see troubling or controlling behavior

Hunter says she hopes students will take away the meaning and importance of relational safety and dating literacy.

“It’s not just about romantic relationships; it is other relationships like with family and friends and everyone you interact with daily,” she said. “We must be mindful of those interactions and how we can best protect ourselves because a lot of the stories we cover on Hunting 4 Answers, unfortunately, families are left to depend on systems that aren’t so willing to be as helpful.”

O’Connor said she wants people to leave the discussion, saying they weren’t expecting some of the information that was given out.

“I want them to be shocked and leave informed, especially going into the holiday season and going back home to their families and meeting with old flames. I just want them to be forever changed with the information and precautions we give them,” she said.

For advice to the LGBTQ+ community and students in general at the AUC center, O’Connor says you are the only person who makes you, you.

“You decide your quality of life, not the public, not a person, not a thing, not an animal, you determine your quality of life. Just like African Americans have had to be enthralled in the ancestral history of slavery and all the things that our ancestors had to go through, it was never easy for people of color,” she said.

So, being a trans woman or woman of trans experience and black, O’Connor says there are several targets placed on her back, but she lives her life regardless.

“If you let it diminish your quality of life, you start to separate yourself from experiences that were designed for human consumption, so I tell people you can either be scared or you can be yourself,” she said. “Either direction you go in, it’s going to result in you having to deal with something that is not easy.”