Jan 17, 2022 4 min read

Washington & Jefferson College and California University of Pennsylvania are two of 34 colleges from across the commonwealth to be awarded state “It’s on Us” grants.

The It’s on Us campaign is a national initiative to raise awareness about sexual assault, teaching participants that assault includes non-consensual sex, advising them on how to identify dangerous situations, empowering them to intervene, and urging them to create an environment of support for victims and survivors.

The grants provide funding from January through May 2023 to implement strategies on campuses, such as improving awareness, prevention, reporting, and response systems regarding sexual violence in schools; removing/reducing barriers that prevent survivors of sexual violence from reporting and/or accessing vital resources; and demonstrating significant, proactive, and sustainable leadership to change campus culture and improve the climate around sexual assault.

The 34 grants total $928,616.

Carrie Howard, Washington & Jefferson’s Title IX coordinator, said some of the $14,000 grant the college received will be used to train interested campus personnel to investigate Title IX complaints such as sexual assault, sexual harassment and discrimination on campus.

“If we were to have a complaint filed, that investigator would get the case and investigate the situation. They write up the report that comes back to my office,” she said. “Any student, staff member, faculty member that has had something potentially devastating in their life happen to them, they need to know where to go to report it. Everyone on campus needs to know the program exists for it to be effective.”

The campus’s Title IX program also provides services that might be needed for the person who files the complaint, such as various types of counseling. Also, alterations can be made for a student who may be uncomfortable with a living situation on campus or a class schedule because of whom that student may encounter.

“We can rearrange those opportunities to provide them with equal opportunity or equal access to their education,” Howard said.

Giveaway items such as lanyards, stress balls and bracelets with the Title IX logo will also be produced to bring awareness to the Title IX programming and sexual assault prevention.

Howard said the funding also will go toward building a schedule of programs for Sexual Awareness Month in April, including a guest speaker.

“Our goal is not just to have a day in April where we focus on sexual assault awareness, but events throughout the whole month,” Howard said. “Awareness is really the key to this program.”

Nancy Skobel, California University’s associate dean for student affairs, said the $30,000 grant the college received will be used to increase awareness and provide training for a comprehensive evidence-based primary strategy, improve institutional response to sexual violence and increase the capacity for reporting.

Steps taken to reach these goals include having administrators, faculty, staff and students take the pledge to be part of the solution to stop sexual assault. The End Violence Center will address a specific population with this grant, Cal U.’s incoming freshmen.

“The Green Dot (Violence Prevention) Strategy will be utilized for the prevention efforts,” Skobel explained. “This evidenced-based bystander intervention model is predicated on the belief that individual safety is a community responsibility … and a critical mass of individuals must be willing to engage in new behaviors.”

Steps also will be taken to enhance awareness and use of on- and off-campus resources for survivors of sexual assault, and a rights/responsibilities and resource guide will be developed for incoming students and distributed during First Year Seminar.

To increase capacity for reporting, a USB Law Enforcement Interviewing Recording System will be purchased with this funding.

“Safety at California University is everybody’s business,” Skobel said. “Cal U. students, faculty and staff are partners with the university in creating an atmosphere that is safe and conducive to learning. Together we form a powerful team.”

Since 2016, the Wolf Administration has awarded 184 It’s On Us PA grants totaling nearly $6 million to post-secondary institutions.