Vice President Joe Biden and pop star Lady Gaga recently visited UNLV to promote the “It’s On Us” campaign, a White House initiative that looks to raise awareness about sex abuse on college campuses. 

“Everybody knows somebody – including young men – who have been abused,” said Biden to about 1,000 individuals packed into UNLV’s Cox Pavilion on April 7. 

Fans stood in line for over two hours to get into the free rally. It was capped by Gaga’s performance of “Til It Happens to You.”

“We have to support each other. We have to care for one another, and what I’ve learned is the most powerful form of healing is compassion,” she said.

“I stood in the audience and heard Lady Gaga say, ‘Just take like one moment today to have compassion for something you may not understand,’” said Wynn Tashman, a law student at UNLV. “This message resonated with me on a personal level. As a member of the LGBT community, I am appreciative of our allies who bridge that cultural gap and take it upon themselves to advocate and have compassion for something they may not understand.”

UNLV reported five campus rapes in 2014. Seven cases were reported in 2013 and one in 2012. Barrett Morris investigates sexual harassment and assault claims at UNLV and told the Las Vegas Review-Journal that the jump could mean more students are reporting abuse as opposed to staying silent. Others believe the school’s numbers are underreported because victims are hesitant to come forward with a claim. 

“Maybe they don’t want to out themselves as survivors,” Hafid Acosta-Gomez told the publication. A student advocate, Acosta-Gomez works with LGBT abuse victims at UNLV’s Women’s Center. “They might not want to out themselves as LGBTQ.”

According to the Las Vegas Review-Journal: The university offers a variety of sexual assault prevention and treatment services for students, including its Campus Advocacy Resource     Empowerment line, which provides help for victims of domestic violence,     sexual assault and stalking. Students undergo training to staff the CARE line, which is housed under the Women’s Center.

All the same, for individuals like Tashman, the “It’s On Us” campaign remains important. 

“This campaign is about proactively creating compassion for the struggles of people you don’t understand or relate to, and then taking responsibility and advocating as an ally.”