The Undergraduate Student Government Senate passed a resolution Tuesday night supporting "rape prevention and resource cards," but many of the senators had different ideas about what exactly their votes meant.

Two weeks ago, senate was asked to fund "rape cards," cards produced by the Center for Women Students that list resources for victims of sexual assault. On Tuesday, senate was asked to endorse the cards in name only.

Town Sen. Brendan Holloway said the existing cards did not address the issue of prevention, which he felt was important. He asked for a change of wording in the resolution from "rape cards" to "rape prevention and resource cards," raising the question of whether USG voted to support the rape cards, as was the original intent of the legislation.

"This resolution was not supporting those cards," Holloway said. "Effectively, the measure didn't support what the Center for Women Students produces."

Town Sen. Jason Covener said he favored Holloway's idea for a new card with prevention ideas and resources, but added the wording of the resolution leaves it open for interpretation. It can be seen as advocating an entirely new card, as Holloway had in mind, or supporting the current rape cards and the production of an additional card with prevention tips.

Town Sen. Steph Wood, one of the sponsors of the original resolution, said she believed she voted to support the rape cards as well as the prevention cards. North Halls Sen. Jason Pliska, who said he received a lot of feedback after the original issue of funding the rape cards came up, said he felt very strongly about the issue.

"I think it's a great resource," Pliska said. "People obviously value it."

Town Sen. Jen Radel has heard from many constituents who did not think that the cards are beneficial in any way, and there are better ways to spend the money than funding them, a view she shared.

"As a woman, I don't feel that I am in need of a rape card on campus," Radel said.

USG Director of Women's Affairs Laurie Rosenberger said her understanding was that senate showed its support for the rape cards and for their continued production and also proposed a new card, the prevention card. She said an emphasis on prevention, or what she referred to as risk reduction, is misplaced because it blames women for being raped.

"You can't make women responsible for rape," Rosenberger said. "Rape cannot be prevented by women."

Holloway said the primary goal is to stop rape from happening, and women will be able to prevent it if they know the steps to take to avoid increasing their chances of being raped.

"I want to avoid the whole rape situation beforehand," Holloway said.

Peggy Lorah, interim director of the Center for Women Students, said prevention should be targeted at the perpetrators, rather than the victims, of sexual assault.

"It's not about whether women should walk together in groups," Lorah said. "It's about what makes anybody think it's OK to violate somebody in this way."