Meet Sonia, a Senior, advocating for the lives of survivors of sexual assault and allies. Check out below to find out about The Survivor Anthology, one of Sonia’s newest projects!
Name: Sonia Ghura
Year: Senior
Major: English major & Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies minor. Also Pre-Law!
Hometown: Washington, DC
Extracurricular Activities: Co-President of The Survivor Anthology (TSA), Co-President of the Alliance for Sexual Assault Prevention (ASAP), Co-President of Hand in Hand Tutoring, Peer Facilitator in Sexual Assault Peer Advocates (SAPA), Tutor at the Emory Writing Center, Board Member of the Peer Review Board in the Office of Student Conduct
Tameka: Describe yourself in 5 words.
Sonia: diligent, loyal, compassionate, zealous, optimistic
T: What sparked the inspiration behind The Survivor Anthology? Can you tell us a little bit about what it is and its purpose?
S: A couple of peers and I conceived of and founded The Survivor Anthology (TSA) during our sophomore year at Emory. TSA is a campus publication dedicated to anonymously sharing nonfiction & creative nonfiction writing and artwork created by survivors of relationship abuse, domestic violence, sexual assault, and other forms of interpersonal violence in response to their experiences. We also accept and encourage pieces from advocates, allies, and active bystanders who have dedicated their time and resources to helping survivors. TSA aims to accept all submissions, and our goal is to raise awareness and to provide a meaningful creative outlet for healing.
T: What are your goals for TSA? Where do you see this going in the long run?
S: The Survivor Anthology is proudly getting ready to publish our second volume of works at Emory this spring! TSA is also currently in the process of spreading to other campuses, such as Cornell University. In the long run, I hope that TSA has a presence on many college campuses as a resource for survivors and also as an awareness-building agent in the fight to end the epidemic of campus sexual assault.
T: What advice would you give to the readers out there about how to get involved?
S: The Survivor Anthology is currently comprised of an executive board, which runs the publication, and those who submit work. As the organization grows and develops, we will likely have more ways to get involved. The executive board recruits periodically throughout the year, and Emory students who are interested in applying to join can email emory.survivor.anthology@gmail.com for more information. Emory community members who are interested in submitting work for publication should email their piece(s) to emory.survivor.anthology@gmail.com and must also fill out our submissions form, which can be found here: https://goo.gl/forms/RSssuhHA6yN0uj2t1. To learn more about TSA in general, please visit our website: www.survivoranthology.org. Thank you for your interest in TSA!
Sonia is doing such great things on campus and I look forward to seeing what she does next!