By Ashley Brickner, News Editor
In the past month, the University accepted a $375,000 grant to further support its efforts in the prevention of sexual assault and intimate-partner violence on campus. This award is an extension of the 2018 and 2020 grants, which were awarded by the Department of Justice’s Office of Violence Against Women.
The funds will bolster a panoply of resources provided by the Violence, Intervention and Prevention (VIP) Center, as well as other training programs available across campus. Wynn Phillips, the director of violence prevention, also procured a $37,100 grant from the Pennsylvania Department of Education’s ‘It’s On Us PA’ campaign. These funds also contributed to sexual assault and violence intervention.
In a press release sent by Amanda O’Rourke, the three-year funding will bolster numerous programs and support resources for students and faculty. The release stated that one effort will “provide all students with training opportunities to understand consent and how to be an active bystander, identify signs and behaviors of unhealthy or abusive relationships, and know their resources on campus.”
Phillips expanded on this point by explaining that the grant’s parameters will require training efforts to include all students, regardless of their graduation class. “Under the requirements of this new grant, we will be extending our required training efforts from just first year students, to all students annually,” Phillips stated, “We are still in the planning process of how such training will be rolled out, but we aim to utilize multiple modalities to make this successful and useful for our student population.”
The fund will also financially support an increase in programs tailored to students of color, LGBTQIA+ students, and international students. Phillips explained, “We aim to work both within the SU community and with our national network of resources to help everyone feel seen and supported in navigating violence prevention.”
While the grant will continue to fund existing programs, as well as helping to implement new resources for students, the fund will also finance resources and training opportunities for faculty and staff members. In O’Rourke’s release, she stated that the training programs will help faculty and staff “feel confident in reporting and modeling a culture of consent for campus community members.”
Phillips stressed the importance of this initiative, emphasizing that faculty and staff should model the “expectations of behavior” they hope students will mirror. To cultivate a safe and conscientious culture, faculty and staff should emulate the principles they hope students will adopt.
“As individuals with power and authority in the space, do-as-I-say-not-as-I-do does not cut it when we are addressing rape culture.” Phillips says, “We must all be united in ending violence and to do so, we all must understand that our individual actions have impact and add up to the greater campus culture.”
Additionally, the grant will support the VIP Center’s Green Dot bystander intervention programming by garnering more recognition for the training opportunities across campus. The grant will also continue to finance our partnership with Transitions of PA. For up to 20 hours per week, an on-campus advocate will be available to students when needed.
Skyler, our on-campus advocate, hopes to bolster the university’s survivor support group, a community for those who have experienced sexual assault, dating violence, domestic violence or stalking. In a similar vein, Phillips stated that the grant will finance programs to mitigate the number of sexual assaults occurring during the Red Zone, a period between September and November when the ubiquity of sexual violence increases.
Phillips stated, “Starting fall 2025 we hope to increase programming specifically in September to give people skill building and opportunities to practice.”
Overall, the fund will bolster the resources and programs available to ensure students’ safety and enhance their awareness of on-campus violence. The VIP Center has played a significant role in the mitigation of these issues, as well as supporting students with numerous concerns and interests. Phillips has also played a central role in widening the VIP Center’s reach across campus. Since she entered her position as the office’s director, the VIP Center, and its programs, have reached more than 2,000 students, enlightening them on a variety of topics. According to O’Rourke’s, these sessions focused on “understanding consent to explaining sexual misconduct and gender-based violence.”
Phillips stated, “I often joke that the VIP Center is the best kept secret on this campus. In the year and half that I have served as Director of Violence Prevention, we have seen an increase in people knowing about our center, services and resources.”