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In honor of Sexual Assault Awareness Month, we sat down and talked to the Presentation Chair of MARS, Will Altabef! MARS stands for Men Against Rape and Sexual Assault…so basically, some of the greatest guys on this campus.
Name: Will Altabef
Year: Sophomore
Major: Communication Studies and Economics
Hometown: Dallas, Texas
What is MARS specifically doing for Sexual Assault Awareness Month?
We are working with Take Back the Night campaign and we’re really excited to do the Panhellenic grand chapter presentation. We haven’t gotten to do very many presentations with women during our existence on this campus and obviously both sexes are very important in this conversation. Seeing that now every pledge class now has been through MARS training on the IFC committee. It’s really cool to think that now 40% of guys on this campus having gone through this training.
What made you want to get involved in MARS?
In high school, I did a lot of peer education on a variety of issues, a lot of which revolved around sexual health. A lot of these are topics that adults try to deal with, which doesn’t always come off right and sometimes condescending. Because of this, I really do believe that peer education is a great way to address these issues. MARS is more of a niche than what I did in high school, but especially on college campuses, it is a very important issue to deal with.
What is the most valuable thing you have learned from being a part of the program?
The trainings during fall with different speakers are great, but I think the most important one we have had was with Dr. Shore. He specializes in masculinity and works on incorporating cultural coding into the discussion. When dealing with a group of guys, knowing how they perceive masculinity really helps and explains a lot of things that are going on in the community.
What do you hope to achieve this month and this week?
This year has been really big for us because there has been much more discussion. People have been much more knowledgeable this year and I hope this month continues that. We are hoping that this month and this week keeps the interest going and keeps adding to the discussion.
What else are you involved in on campus?
I am also in Phi Delt and I serve as their president. I am also a site leader for ASB, which is really fun and I am also in the Titanic Players for improv.
What do you look for in a woman?
Intelligence. My real criterion with intelligence is if I was trapped on the side of the road, could spend 6 hours waiting for a car to get there and not have the conversation be boring at any time. Conversation is really the most important part and it should be able to just go on forever. Being funny is good but really just having a good sense of humor and being able to laugh at things is really important. Otherwise, I would just feel my self-worth depreciating.
Describe your perfect first date, other than being stuck on the side of the road with her for six hours.
I don’t want to go to an event, I just want it to be about the two people. I want the quality of the date to reflect the time we spent together one-on-one. Dinner is always good and some walking around.
What’s your most embarrassing moment?
My life is an embarrassing moment. My friend once told me my life is unreal and I told him this is true. It just keeps happening, and I just keep standing there. My life is just a series of awkward events that keep happening, I just stand there and enjoy it. My most embarrassing moments are always the first things I say to a girl.
What’s your best pick-up line?
I was trying to ask a girl out to dinner and I accidentally started with, “do you like meats?” I just wanted to know if she was a vegetarian and it just came out that way. There was also when I asked, “hey do you want to hook up?” She said no and I said, “that’s okay, me neither.” Consent is sexy. I may not be…
Don’t listen to him, ladies… he definitely deserves to be named Cutie.
“Let them see the real Will Altabef and let them be horrified”