ATLANTA — Vice President Joe Biden stopped by historic Morehouse College on Tuesday to talk about a grassroots campaign to end sexual violence.
In one of his several college campus stops on Tuesday, Biden told students on the Atlanta University Center institution that sexual assault is declining across the nation, with the exception of college campuses.
Speaking as part of a sexual violence prevention program called “It’s On Us,” he encouraged students take a pledge to work against sexual assault.
“It is never, never, never, never, never appropriate for a man to use physical force against a woman for any reason other than self-defense,” Biden said.
“Your generation can begin to change the dynamic on campus in a way that has never happened before.”
Tuesday’s campus stop, coincided with education and awareness events across the country to put the issue at the forefront.
Biden was joined on stage by Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed and Morehouse College President John Wilson.
Biden, who authored the Violence Against Women Act in 1994, said cases of abuse have since fallen nationally by 58 percent, but not much has changed on college campuses.
“It was a great disappointment, because I thought we had begun to change the culture,” he said. Earlier in the day, Biden told students at Clemson University in South Carolina that people must get involved in stopping sexual violence before it even happens.
“If you see somebody walking a drunk girl upstairs, and if you don’t have the courage to stop him you’re an accomplice. You’re a coward. You’re no man.” Biden boomed. “If you don’t have the courage to step in, at least alert somebody,” he said, according to GreenvilleOnline.com.
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