“I am strong! I am capable! I will defend myself!” a student shouted. A man in a bright red tracksuit and a matching baseball cap, identifying him as a Rape Aggression Defense (RAD) instructor, pointed at another student, who repeated the chant.
The instructor, Wake Forest security officer Tony Chambers, has RAD students read this mantra from a colorful cardboard sign at the start of every class.
“I want you to read it with your mean voice, with your mad voice,” Chambers said. “Let me know that you will not be an easy victim.”
Stunning and running
“Make noise” is one of the first lessons in RAD for Women, an HES course supported by University Police. Chambers has taught RAD at Wake Forest for ten years, following thirty years on the North Carolina State Highway Patrol.
Each section of the popular seven-week course enrolls about fifteen female students. Twice a week, these students meet in a room padded with wrestling mats in the Sutton Wellbeing Center to learn self-defense techniques.
The RAD curriculum includes a manual, videos and even essay assignments. However, students spend most of their time practicing an extensive list of physical maneuvers to deter sexual assault. There aren’t just generic punches, according to Chambers, but “fists, palm strikes, spear hands, extended knuckles.” Each kick is classified as a “sweep kick, straight kick, front snap kick [or] knee straight.” Chambers explains the proper form for all.
“You think everybody knows how to make a fist, but everybody don’t,” Chambers said. “If that fist is not made proper and you hit something the wrong way, you’re going to injure yourself.”
Chambers is also quick to emphasize that RAD is not a fighting course. He teaches students to “stun and run” in a dangerous situation, fighting only as much as necessary to separate themselves from an aggressor so they can escape to safety.
“We didn’t teach you no wrestling techniques,” Chambers said. “Get that good punch or kick in. The more power you got, the more time it’s going to give you to run off… don’t stand there and continue to punch.”
Fight week
After half a semester of practice, it’s time for “fight week.” Students wait in the hallway as Chambers calls them into the classroom one by one. Each student suits up in a helmet, gloves, elbow pads and knee pads and stands on one side of the room with her eyes closed. Her goal is to reach a line of blue painter’s tape on the other side of the room.
“In the real world, there’s not going to be a blue line ten, fifteen yards away,” Chambers said. “But what it does is get them in the habit of running.”
Before they can run, the students must fight. They keep their eyes closed until another certified RAD instructor grabs them. They fight their way out of the first “attacker’s” grip, then dodge a second. The instructors wear bulky protective suits, but some students are so powerful that the shielding gear proves insufficient.
“Our aggressors will act like a normal person would if they were kicked or punched, [but] sometimes [they] don’t have to act,” Chambers laughed. “If we don’t walk out of here with bruises, I let you down.”
“In a stressful situation, your body resorts back to how you trained,” Chambers continued. “If you train halfway, that’s all it knows.”
Senior Carrigan Pitts, who recently completed the course, said she was a “little nervous” for fight week.
“The people you have to take down are like, big boys… and they really don’t take it easy on you,” Pitts said. “They don’t hurt you or anything, but they really want to see what you’ve learned for the class.”
Despite her initial worries, however, Pitts felt it was important for her and her classmates to learn to “fight for as hard and as long as [they could].”
“I always thought it was best to do what you’re told and be more concerned about your life,” Pitts said. “But [Chambers said] that’s completely not true. You need to fight – don’t let them take you anywhere.”
Mental considerations
Pitts also did not expect so many exercises focused on strengthening students’ boldness, such as shouting “I am strong! I am capable! I will defend myself!” at the start of every class.
“I was really surprised [by] how much [Chambers] affirmed us,” Pitts said. “I thought it would be all physical, but we talked a lot about mental health and having confidence in yourself.”
Chambers said that psychological stamina can be just as important as physical strength in a high-stakes situation.
“People think that defense is just fighting [but] self-defense is keeping yourself safe all-around,” Chambers said. “You got to train the mind as well as the body. If you ain’t mentally prepared to do it, you could be the best puncher and kicker in the class… [but] you’re not going to do it.”
Changing curriculums
Chambers acknowledged that certain aspects of the RAD curriculum have changed since he began teaching. There’s now a greater emphasis that resistance is not always a realistic response during sexual assault.
“You might to choose to comply… doesn’t mean that you’re weak,” Chambers said. “You might have a reason. You might have to temporarily comply until you get away, [or] the person might have a gun.”
As most rapes are perpetrated by someone the victim knows rather than a stranger, RAD also touches on the topic of domestic violence.
“Don’t go back to all your friends [or] your significant other [and show] all these techniques that you’ve learned,” Chambers warned. “If you’ve told your boyfriend [or] girlfriend, you’ve given away your plan. Protect your game plan.”
Wake Forest’s RAD program will change again next semester: in Spring 2026, Chambers will teach RAD for Men for the first time. Compared to its equivalent for women, the men’s section will focus more on de-escalating violent situations.
Carrigan Pitts said having only women classmates helped the course feel like a “safe and empowering environment” and was glad that men would soon be able to enroll in their own version as well.
“If it was a mixed gender class, maybe people would feel embarrassed to try their best or yell out,” Pitts said. “It’s really important that men get this opportunity, too.”
