On Thursday, Ames Police Chief Chuck Cychosz will be speaking at a lecture titled “Confronting Family Violence and Sexual Assault: Community Responses.”

Cychosz will be discussing community efforts and best practices for handling violence against women. Jerry Stewart, director of the Department of Public Safety at Iowa State, as well as representatives from Youth and Shelter Services, the Assault Care Center Extending Shelter and Support and the Story County Sexual Assault Response Team will participate in the discussion.

The lecture is being held as part of the Women & Gender Studies Program 35th Anniversary Celebration.

According to the ISU website, “The Women’s Studies Program at Iowa State University, established in 1977, focuses on the study of issues and scholarship relevant to women and gender, challenges existing systems of knowledge and forges new scholarship based on the centrality of gender as a category of analysis. Women’s Studies fosters an awareness of the varied theoretical approaches to the study of women, feminism, and gender, and recognizes that there is a great diversity among women, not only in the United States but worldwide. Women’s Studies creates an understanding that interrelated factors — e.g., race, ethnicity, class, age, disability, religion, national origin and sexual orientation — inform knowledge of women’s history, culture and social roles.”

It is cosponsored by the Margaret Sloss Women’s Center, Women & Gender Studies Program and the Committee on Lectures, which is funded by the Government of the Student Body.

The lecture will be at 7 p.m. in the Sun Room of the Memorial Union, and it is free to attend.