In an effort to reach out to Iowa State men, the Margaret Sloss Women’s Center is continuing its “Men’s Outreach” program this year.

Once again, the official kickoff for the program will be “Sensitive Men Flipping Burgers,” which will be held Sept. 8 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. in front of Sloss House.

Students, faculty and staff, as well as some high-profile ISU men, including women’s basketball coach Bill Fennelly, will be acting as chefs for the event.

Randy Jackson, a second-year graduate student in interdisciplinary studies, will be acting as director of the Men’s Outreach program this year. David White was the director last year.

Jackson, who has been involved with the Sloss House since March, said his main focus for the program this year will be recruiting peer mentors to interact with ISU men about issues ranging from alcohol awareness to interpersonal communication to date rape.

Jackson stressed that these topics “aren’t just women’s issues but men’s issues.” He hopes to have about a dozen peer educators for this semester and as many as 35 by the end of the year.

He also said that at first he would like the peer educators to be male.

“Right now, we’ll be having men talking to men; with men, they might be most receptive to [the message],” he said. “I want these people to understand that [women] are people; just because the hormones are different doesn’t make anyone less of a person.”

The peer educators don’t need to have any previous formal training, he said.

“I want to grab a large spectrum of men, any man who … wants to make ISU a better place,” he said.

Jackson said it is crucial to have programs such as Men’s Outreach to improve the climate on campus.

“This is a large university, and there’s problems between the sexes, and that’s not limited just to students,” he said. “If we’re going to have a learning community, a learning community should encompass the entire campus if we’re going to make this a great place to be.”

Some of the ideas that the Men’s Outreach team is working on include workshops and a men’s poetry night, he said.

The rest of the Sloss House staff also will be supporting Men’s Outreach, said Andrea Conner, graduate assistant in educational leadership and policy studies.

Conner also said Men’s Outreach serves an important role on the ISU campus.

“Some men feel that they’re not allowed in the door because of their make-up,” she said. “When people walk by [the center], I get the feeling that it’s, ‘Oh, can I go in there?’ I hope through this year, we can get the word out.”