EPIC’s mission is to empower prevention through community connection. By centering education, empathy, and shared responsibility, EPIC helps WSU’s graduate and academic community recognize power dynamics, intervene early, and support one another before issues escalate. The program bridges policy and practice, turning institutional values into everyday actions that sustain a culture of mutual respect and inclusion.
Our Values
- Prevention through Community: Change begins when everyone understands their role in creating respectful, safe spaces.
- Peer Leadership: ASEs are trained as facilitators, modeling accountability and empathy within their academic units.
- Equity and Inclusion: We recognize how identity, power, and intersectionality shape lived experiences in learning and working environments.
- Collaboration: EPIC is jointly developed by WSU and UAW 4591, ensuring that both institutional and union perspectives inform training content and delivery.
- Growth and Reflection: Training evolves continually based on feedback, research, and community input.
Who We Serve
EPIC serves all Academic Student Employees (ASEs), including teaching assistants, research assistants, and graders, as well as the departments, supervisors, and administrators who work alongside them. The program also supports UAW 4591 representatives and graduate school leaders in strengthening departmental climates.
Through both in-person and online sessions, EPIC engages the entire ASE community in prevention skill-building, bystander intervention, and reflection on intersectional power dynamics, helping to ensure that every Cougar community member can thrive in an environment of dignity and respect.