Parties at the Keg House were notoriously wild, so Kathy was naturally hesitant when her new boyfriend Jim asked her to go there to a Friday night bash. Jim was a nice guy, she told herself, and if he invited her, then the night would surely be both safe and fun. She would even wear her new red dress.

At the party, Kathy drank too much and began flirting with some of the men in the room. When she asked Jim to walk her outside for some fresh air, he took her hand and led her upstairs instead. He looked back at his buddies and said, “Grab a beer and c’mon up.” Soon, Kathy’s red dress was flung above her head and the party became her worst nightmare.

Although this scene is a segment from a skit performed at the University of Maine, it might have been the setting for countless numbers of date rapes or gang rapes occuring on college campuses nationwide.

To raise awareness about these issues, Athletes for Sexual Responsibility, a peer education program at UM, has been presenting three skits with workshops about damaging or potentially harmful sexual situations. The larger focus of the skits, however, is the proper communication skills that may make a positive difference in preventing rape.

Performed by seven student athletes (four football players, a basketball player, a tennis player and a cheerleader), the skits depict inappropriate behaviors surrounding rape. This might involve a male ignoring a female when she says no to sexual advances, or a rape victim receiving criticism from her peers because she dressed provocatively.

At a crucial point in the action, Sandy Caron, assistant professor of family relationships and developer of the program, steps in and talks with the audience about each predicament and how the rapes might have been prevented. She emphasizes the effect that friends can have in shaping or altering attitudes and assumptions about date rape and its aftermath. The students in the audience then offer suggestions, and the players rework the skit to end positively.

Last spring, Caron recruited athletes from her human sexuality class because she and program co-coordinator Margaret Zillioux believed that athletes, more than any other group of students, could be models for appropriate social and sexual behavior. The athlete/actors knew this, too, so they took their roles seriously.

“Other students respect us,” said cheerleader Patti Codrey, who plays a rape victim in one skit. “If they see us saying `No, date rape is wrong,’ then they might see this as something they can believe in.”

Parts of the presentation are difficult and uncomfortable to watch, said Caron, who also writes a candid sex column for Campus, the UM student newspaper.

But according to UM football coach Kirk Ferentz, athletes have been receptive and interested audience members.

“This is a pertinent topic on any college campus,” said Ferentz. “We owe it to our athletes to educate them as best we can.”

For Dan DiGravio, football player and troupe member, participation in the program has increased his understanding of what rape victims go through.

“It’s men who do the raping, and it’s our responsibility to stop it,” said DiGravio. “It’s always wrong no matter what the situation. You have to be able to take no for an answer whether it hurts your pride or not.”

Caron and Zillioux worked with the athlete/actors to develop the script so it carefully presents alternatives to violence and poor communication.

“The program challenges the way the students see the world,” said Caron.