Kenyora Lenair Johnson ’10, CEO of End Rape On Campus (EROC), is dedicated to elevating survivorship and centering marginalized populations. To honor Sexual Assault Awareness Month (April) 2025, we spoke with her about EROC’s bold initiatives, as well as Simmons’ intergenerational community.
“Our mission is to end campus sexual violence through advocacy, education, and support,” says Kenyora Lenair Johnson ’10, CEO of End Rape On Campus (EROC). “Essentially, we accomplish this through our ‘centering the margins’ framework, which works to amplify the voices of historically marginalized student survivors [of sexual assault] We help student survivors become activists,” she explains.
EROC began in 2013 when student activists Andrea Pino-Silva and Sophie Karasek (of the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and the University of California, Berkeley, respectively) realized that campus sexual assault was a nationwide epidemic and that Title IX (a landmark 1972 legislation that prohibits sex-based discrimination in educational programs and activities) could be positioned to deliver justice for survivors.
In 2018, Johnson joined the organization as its Chief of Staff. Since the COVID-19 pandemic and as CEO, she is expanding EROC’s partnerships and organizational structure, and offers guidance on Title IX and the US Department of Education.
“About 20% of women are affected by campus sexual assault,” says Johnson. The numbers are significantly higher for Black, Indigenous, and Latina women, LGBTQIA+ adults, and disabled or neurodivergent individuals. Moreover, college students (traditionally between the ages of 18 and 24) are especially vulnerable to campus sexual violence. Geography is also key; universities situated within urban contexts (including women’s-centered colleges) can create more susceptibility.
“Sexual violence is not just something that happens between a heterosexual couple,” she explains. “There are folks who do commit harm or are harmed, regardless of their identity ... And [those with marginalized identities] are disproportionately affected.”
As Johnson observes, non-normative identities have become targets amid the current political climate, affording them less protection under Title IX (which has recently reverted to its 2020 stipulations). “We are seeing a lot of students who are disillusioned by the system,” she says.
Despite this cynicism, EROC intentionally imparts agency to survivors. “We use the term ‘survivor’ in lieu of ‘victim,’ but we also meet folks where they are at,” says Johnson. “We want people to [be able to control] their state of survivorship.”
Mapping Campus Accountability
Recently, EROC received a $100K grant from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation. Johnson’s organization plans to use these funds in a Campus Accountability Map and Tool (CAMT). “It’s almost like a Yelp for campus safety,” she says.
“The principal aim is to enable students and their families to compare the high-level statistics, survivor support resources, prevention efforts, and investigation policies among 1,700 colleges and universities [which also include institutions in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands],” she explains.
In other words, CAMT is a free resource where people can look up a particular college and find out how this institution approaches sexual assault. The tool also enables users to compare other schools simultaneously.
Ultimately, Johnson hopes that CAMT will create partnerships between EROC and higher educational institutions. “Getting institutions to put safety at the top of their priority list — rather than a hindrance to their reputation — is critical,” she emphasizes. “You may be a top school [academically] or offer Division I athletics, but how well are you addressing safety? So, we are using technology as a means to realize healing and justice.”
Roads to Progress
When it comes to ending campus sexual assault, Johnson proposes two approaches: fostering education and challenging institutional apathy.
Concerning education, Johnson articulates the need for comprehensive sexual education, starting at the K–12 levels. For instance, young students should develop an understanding of “sexual autonomy.”
Deriving inspiration from Jennifer Hirsch and Shamus Khan’s book, Sexual Citizens: A Landmark Study of Sex, Power, and Assault on Campus (W.W. Norton and Co., 2020), Johnson expresses the urgency for “recognizing that individuals have the right to engage or not engage in sexual activity. And, at the same time, they recognize that the person with whom they interact is also autonomous, and may give or take away consent as well.” These conversations educate students about what constitutes violence and teach them how to recognize harm.
For Johnson, institutional apathy denotes “a deliberately indifferent approach to campus sexual violence.” For example, Title IX coordinators who hold other positions on campus that pose a conflict of interest with their Title IX duties may ultimately delay investigations and enact further damage (psychologically and academically) to survivors.
“When someone is harmed, it’s a long-term effect on their survivorship journey,” Johnson says. “We need to support people throughout college and institutions must be accountable and proactive All students require a learning environment that is safe and equitable.” She adds, “Allyship should be real, not performative.”
In recent years, the #MeToo Movement has “cracked the silence wide open,” says Johnson. “The momentum of this movement trickled down to local schools, workplaces, and communities folks started to understand that the profile of the ‘perfect survivor’ is not the cisgender White woman — it could happen to anybody.”
Unpacking the “perfect victim” trope, Johnson explains that, whereas White women are conceived as “fragile, delicate, and in need of being saved, Black women and girls are often hypersexualized, adultified, and criminalized.” As a result of this discrimination, Black, Hispanic, and Indigenous survivors are frequently not believed or are left out of the public purview. Furthermore, many campus safety departments imbibe systemic racism from their police training, which perpetuates these stereotypes.
“We need to have a trauma-informed, survivor-centered policy,” says Johnson. “Ask survivors what resources they need They should choose what they want while they are on their own survivorship journeys.”
Finding Belonging and Black Sisterhood at Simmons
As Johnson reflects, “Simmons saw my potential even before I did I always felt that I needed to be here, and that I belong.” She majored in public health (with a sociology track) and minored in Africana studies.
Johnson fondly recalls a cross-departmental course with (former) Professor of Philosophy Diane Raymond and Associate Professor of Economics Masato Aoki. “They asked us, ‘At the end of the four years [of college], what do you want your legacy to be?’ And I said, ‘I want mine to be that I have not only discovered my voice, but I have used my voice.’”
Thanks to the support she received at Simmons, Johnson has wielded her voice in profound and empowering ways. Moreover, she learned how to center lived experiences and “to never underestimate the power of a well-placed ‘no.’”
Beyond the classroom, Johnson found community through Simmons’ Black Student Organization (BSO) and, later on, the African American Alumnae/i Association (AAAA). She served as President of both organizations.
“There is something about the history of Simmons, especially from the Black student lens. The cross-generational history of Black alumnae/i is filled with such richness, fulfillment, joy, leadership, and magic,” she says. Johnson especially enjoys dancing at AAAA reunions. “When we have opportunities to come together, you feel that you are a part of something larger than yourself; you’re a part of history.”
As an alumna, Johnson and her fellow Simmons sisters are very gratified to hand down their wisdom to the younger generations. Under her AAAA leadership, she supported the Black Oral History Project. Supervised by Associate Professor of Africana Studies and Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Tatiana M.F. Cruz, this ongoing project documents and commemorates the intergenerational voices of Simmons.
Addressing student activists, “Your voice is your superpower. Use it and protect it,” Johnson advises. “Showing up with heart [i.e., intention, authenticity, love, and courage] is just as important as showing up with credentials.”