West Chester University Awarded Nearly $30,000 “It’s On Us PA” Grant To Continue Combatting Sexual & Relationship Violence

Press release from West Chester University:

January 28, 2021

West Chester University (WCU) has been selected again to receive state grant funding
from “It’s On Us PA,” a critical initiative administered by the Pennsylvania Department
of Education’s Office of Postsecondary and Higher Education to combat sexual violence
on college campuses throughout the Commonwealth. Awarded nearly $30,000 in funding
for programming scheduled to take place throughout the 2021 academic year, WCU is
one of only 37 universities and colleges in Pennsylvania to be selected. This is the
third year that the University has been awarded the competitive state grant, which
was submitted jointly by West Chester University’s Center for Women & Gender Equity,
as well as the Office for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, and announced earlier
this month by Governor Tom Wolf.

“Reimagining and transforming how we talk about and approach sexual violence remains
essential,” shared Senior Director of WCU’s Center for Women & Gender Equity Sendy
Guerrier Alcidonis, who serves as the primary investigator of the grant. “Using an
enhanced approach to violence prevention, our team will immerse WCU students in the
planning and implementation of activities that will help improve awareness, prevention,
reporting, and response systems. An important component of our programming will also
include reaching out and actively engaging members of our neighboring communities
in projects that will be adapted for pandemic and post-pandemic learning environments.”

Building on the success of previous projects funded through the It’s On Us grant,
important initiatives slated for 2021 will include a variety of co-curricular learning
experiences such as the It’s on Us Week of Action activities, a speaker series focused
on anti-violence education, and a body-mapping workshop. Programming will also include
enhanced trauma-informed training, as well as partnerships with advocacy organizations
that work with high school girls in grades ten through twelve. These new programming
efforts extend current violence prevention initiatives such as Rams Step Up, a bystander
intervention program; Situationships, a boundary-setting program focusing on relationships
and communication; #MascMonday, a social media campaign that promotes diverse reflections
on masculinities; as well as regular communication about sex education through social
media campaigns and a monthly newsletter.

Currently in the planning process, campus activities funded by the It’s On Us grant
will begin in July of 2021 and will be coordinated by the University’s Center for
Women & Gender Equity, University’s It’s On Us Undergraduate Campus Representative,
as well as the Office for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. Project collaborators
include the University’s Counseling Center, Crime Victims Center of Chester County,
Health Federation of Philadelphia, and Girls Justice League.

The book Sexual Citizens, authored by Columbia University Professor of Sociomedical Sciences Jennifer S. Hirsch
and Princeton University Professor of Sociology and American Studies Shamus Khan,
is framing the approach for much of the grant work and is providing a working context
for understanding the roots of sexual assault in our society. The first annual Gender
Justice Conference, hosted by the Center for Women & Gender Equity, will feature Hirsch
and Khan as keynote speakers on March 24. The Conference, which is not funded by the
It’s On Us grant, is being offered to the community as a unique opportunity to learn
more about the nature of this compelling and ongoing work.

This press release was produced by West Chester University. The views expressed here are the author’s own.