The United States Department of Justice, specifically, the Office on Violence Against Women (OVW) will award $10,688,200 through 36 grants to colleges across the nation. The funding will be used to help educate, address and prevent domestic violence and sexual assault on college campuses as well as enhance services through the “Grants to Reduce Sexual Assault, Domestic Violence, Dating Violence and Stalking on Campus Program.”
West Virginia University Potomac State College recently received official notification that it’s application for this program has been funded for $299,964 for three years, beginning October 1, 2022 through September 30, 2025. The College will partner with the Family Crisis Center, Inc.in Keyser, the Keyser Police Department and with WVU to implement this initiative.
“Studies show that approximately one in five women surveyed have been victimized by sexual assault while in college,” said Associate Attorney General Vanita Gupta. “We need to support college campuses with the resources to create a campus culture that is not tolerant of sexual assault or dating violence. These grants will help colleges and universities develop prevention policies, offer survivor-centered services, and train campus police to meet the needs of their students.
“This grant allows Potomac State College to be proactive and a leader among its institutional peers, to develop preventative measures, education and training to help eliminate sexual assault and dating violence in this nation,” said Potomac State College Interim Campus President Chris Gilmer. “While we pride ourselves on having a very safe campus, this grant will also allow us to enhance our services to ensure that any victims receive high quality, confidential support and care.”
The Campus Program supports higher education institutions in developing services and programs that are designed to educate, address and prevent sexual assault, domestic violence, dating violence and stalking on campus. Grantees are required to adopt a multidisciplinary response program that involves student affairs, student health, athletics, residence life, law enforcement and victim service providers. They also provide incoming students with prevention and educational programs about sexual and domestic violence, training for campus police and security and training for judicial and disciplinary board members.
PSC is in the process of hiring a Project Coordinator to administer the grant. To learn more about this opportunity, visit https://careers.wvu.edu/.