More than 40 colleges and universities across Pennsylvania received thousands of dollars in state grants to combat sexual violence on their campuses.
YORK COUNTY, Pa. — It’s On Us PA is a statewide campaign by Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro administration to combat sexual assault on campus educate and people on what to do if someone is victimized.
In the latest round of grants, York College received $17,000.
“We’re not in these spaces when things are going on,” said Abby Linthicum, the campus’s Title IX coordinator.
Linthicum says the money will be used to expand the school’s existing programs and introduce new ones.
“Kind of a new thing from our “It’s On Us” grant is going to be supporting our new student orientation, putting some of those funds towards an outside provider called catharsis, they’ll come in and do a presentation like one they’ve done before but it’ll be funded through this now which will be great,” she said.
Other schools in south central Pennsylvania include Franklin and Marshall College in Lancaster County, which received more than $20,000.
“With our last grant award, we were able to update our sexual misconduct resource guides, both the physical versions, and then digitize them,” said Sam Thiry, director of Wellness Programs at F&M College.
Thiry acknowledges the complexities of reporting sexual assaults or other types of misconduct, but says more students are recognizing when something is wrong and reports of sexual assault have dropped since receiving the grants
“Students see themselves having more confidence in their ability to recognize red flags in an unhealthy relationship or recognize when something suspicious might be happening between a few folks and whether or not to step in and how to step in,” said Thiry.
“I have definitely seen a change in students knowing our office, being able to talk to us through prevention, being able to know our faces, feeling comfortable enough to come up to myself and our Title IX investigator, knowing us, and feeling safe in that space,” Linthicum added.
According to the latest information, Shippensburg University in Cumberland County received $40,000 in funding, Millersville University in Lancaster County received $40,000, and United Luthera Seminary in Adams County received $50,000.
A spokesperson for Shippensburg emailed FOX43 the following goals with the latest grant:
Train and support peer (student) educators who will provide programing and training around the topics of consent, healthy relationships and survivor resources.Continue our collaboration with the Carlisle and Cumberland County YWCA and Franklin County Women in Need to provide services and trainings.Continue to provide Green Dot training across various campus communities. Green Dot is a research-based bystander intervention program designed to reduce power-based personal violence (sexual assault, domestic violence, stalking) by empowering individuals to change campus or community norms.Fund speaker programs to deliver impactful programing to students, faculty and staff.Purchase educational and promotional materials for the initiative
Together, $1.7 million was awarded across 43 state colleges and universities in the latest round of grants.