it matters
You may have already seen this campaign around campus. It appears on stickers, posters, door hangers, and coffee sleeves, using bright colors and overlapping circles, along with the words "it matters because you matter."
It Matters is an awareness campaign created by the Office for Institutional Equity and Title IX (IEX Office). The campaign planning started in the summer of 2026 and was just launched in fall 2026. You can find the materials in buildings across campus right now with new assets added throughout the 2026-2027 academic school year.
Why We Made It
We made this campaign because of what students told us. In 2025, students answered the Sexual Misconduct and Awareness Survey, and in spring 2024, other students met with us in small group conversations. When we looked at both, the same thing kept coming up.
Most students knew that our office existed, but fewer students knew what would actually happen if they contacted us or made a report.
Students told us that our information felt too formal and used too many legal words that were hard to follow. They said they could not remember much from the online training they had to complete. Many were not sure if what happened to them was serious enough to bring to us. A lot of students believed that if they contacted our office, an investigation would start right away, and that they would lose control over what happened next.
When students explained why they did not reach out, we heard two answers over and over. They felt that what happened was not serious enough, or that it was not worth the trouble.
Students also told us something important about who they turn to first. Almost always, they talk to a friend before they talk to anyone at the university. That changed who we wrote this campaign for.
The Idea Behind The Campaign
Reaching out is not the same as reporting.
That is the idea at the center of the campaign and the materials we developed. When you reach out or contact the IEX Office, we start by talking with you about what you need. Contacting us does not file a report, and it does not mean you are starting an investigation.
The IEX Office can offer support to help with whatever you are dealing with. What that looks like is different for each person. It might mean help with your classes, a change to your work or class schedule, a change in housing, or a connection to resources on campus or in the community. You can receive that kind of support without beginning any formal process.
You decide what happens next.
Four ideas guided the whole campaign.
- Clarity - We wanted to explain things in everyday language instead of policy language, and to show what really happens, one step at a time.
- Agency - We want you to know that you maintain control over your own decisions. When someone is harmed, that sense of control is often taken away. The It Matters campaign is meant to remind students that they are the ones making the choices.
- Approachability - The It Matters campaign is designed to feel warm and easy to talk to, so we lead with what we can do to help rather than with the name of a law or a policy.
- Accessibility - We wanted to reach students in the places they already spend time, in a form they can understand quickly, without asking anyone to attend an event or sign up for anything.
The campaign also speaks directly to friends. If you are worried about someone you know, you can talk to us before that person does. We can help you think through how to support them.
How we designed it
The IEX Office created this campaign together with the 91视频 School of Design. Two student designers, Sam Canick and Arunima Das, led the design work, with guidance from faculty member Kristin Hughes.
Every message in the campaign comes from something students told us. When students said our materials were too full of legal language, we adjusted that language to be more understandable. When students said they did not understand what happens after someone contacts us, we made that the main subject of the campaign instead of a small detail at the end.
The look of the campaign
The design begins with a simple idea that students belong to many communities at the same time, such as friends, classmates, teams, clubs, families, etc. These communities often overlap and where they overlap, they create strong points of connection, and together they form the support system around a student.
That idea became the visual language of the campaign. You will see circles that overlap, curved shapes, and stars repeating across the posters, brochures, door hangers, and stickers.
Three ideas at the center
Three words hold the campaign together. Each one has its own shape in the design, and you will see all three repeated on stickers, posters, and printed materials.
- VOICE means speaking up for yourself. We want students to feel able to say what happened and ask for what they need, because that is how we can offer the right kind of help. On the materials you will see this as "your voice matters."
- AGENCY means having control over your own decisions. Students who have been harmed often feel that control was taken from them. This campaign is meant to give it back. You choose whether to contact us, what to share, and what happens after that. On the materials you will see this as "your agency matters."
- EXPERIENCE means that what happened to you counts, whatever it was. Every person's experience is different, and every one of them is valid. You do not need to compare your situation to anyone else's before asking for help. On the materials you will see this as "you decide what happens next."
Colors that carry meaning
The design team chose the palette carefully, and gave every color a meaning tied to the campaign. Warm yellows and oranges stand for voice and confidence. Deep pinks stand for dignity and agency. Purples and blues stand for safety and comfort. Light blue, teal, and green stand for experience, story, and growth. The colors were chosen to feel warm and human rather than cold and official.
Where you will find the materials
You will find campaign materials in residence halls, libraries, dining locations, academic buildings, and other shared spaces on campus. Right now these include:
- Stickers for laptops and water bottles
- Refrigerator magnets
- Coffee sleeves
- Door hangers
- Posters
- Brochures
- Social media posts
Every printed piece has a QR code, and all of them lead to the same page, which explains how to report and what options you have.
We will add more materials during the year as the campaign grows.
What we hope this does
Our main goal is to close the gap between knowing that our office exists and knowing what actually happens when you contact us.
There are four things in particular that we want every student to know.
- Reaching out to us is not the same as making a report.
- You can receive support without starting a formal process.
- No experience is too small to talk to us about.
- There is no deadline. You can come to us at any time, even if what happened was a long time ago.
We also hope students will view the office and our staff as people who can help, rather than as an office that only handles legal matters.
Request materials for your space
We are glad to share campaign materials with departments, student organizations, residence halls, and campus partners. The materials are free.
Use the form below to tell us what you would like and where it will go.
[Embed Google Form here]
If you have questions about the campaign, you can email institutionalequity@cmu.edu or call 412-268-7125.
The It Matters campaign is paid for in part by a grant from the PA program.