Gnome Means No: Campus Wide April Campaign Brings Awareness to Consent and Healthy Relationships
This April, Maryville College is turning up the volume on the conversation around consent, boundaries, and sexual violence prevention with a playful yet powerful campaign: “Gnome Means No.” Running throughout April, which is Sexual Assault Awareness Month, this initiative combines campus-wide and community education with eye catching gnome-themed visuals and events designed to engage, empower, and educate the student body.
With miniature gnome figures that have been decorated by our very own Gnome Guardians, each gnome has their own question in relation to boundaries, consent, and relationships for students to answer. Some responses from the students have been “this is such a fun idea”, “I actually don’t know the answer” to “OMG this is real! RED FLAG” to “Omg this is a hard question…” This campaign has already captured attention, and that is exactly the point.
“We wanted a campaign that makes people stop, smile, and think about what consent really is,” said Laura Reed, Director of Prevention Education. Throughout the month, students can participate in the interactive tabling events (where they may even see a gnome), collect gnome-inspired stickers, koozies, pens, and buttons with message like “Gnome-body Touches Without Consent”, “Boundaries are Gnome Joke”, Consent is Gnome Joke, and many more.
One of the campaign’s most buzzworthy features is the Consent Gnome Mini Challenge. There is a special group of Consent Gnomes that have been hiding among faculty and staff members each representing a letter of consent. Students are challenged to find them, but to receive this letter to spell out the word Consent, they must ask permission from the person wearing the letter to scan the QR code, this further promotes engagement and reinforces the theme of the campaign of asking first and getting consent, even with something simple of scanning the QR Code. If the student can scan all the letters to spell out the word C-O-N-S-E-N-T, they receive a special prize from the prizes given out from the main campaign of “Gnome Means No.”
The campaign also ties into a larger campus effort to prevent sexual violence and support survivors. As part of the PAVE Program, “Gnome Means No” highlights the importance of proactive bystander intervention, open dialogue, and creating a culture of care.
“Bringing awareness isn’t just about a single month, it’s about creating a lasting change,” said Reed. “We hope students walk away with not just cute gnome merch, but a better understanding of what consent looks like in everyday life, and the confidence to speak up for themselves and others.”
As April continues, students, faculty and staff are encouraged to join in, attend events, and show support on social media using #MCGnomeMeansNo. Together at Maryville College we are taking a stand, one gnome at a time.