St. Bonaventure University has received a $300,000 federal grant to fortify its efforts to respond to sexual assault, domestic violence, dating violence and stalking (SADVDVS).

The Justice Department’s Office on Violence Against Women (OVW) issued $18 million in grants to 57 colleges in the United States.

The OVW grants are awarded to help institutions of higher education implement comprehensive, coordinated responses to violent crimes on campus through partnerships with victim services providers and justice agencies.

St. Bonaventure administrators sought the three-year grant to, in part, bolster its outreach to the university’s growing population of LGBTQI students.

In the university’s most recent Welcoming and Inclusive Campus survey, 15 percent of St. Bonaventure’s undergraduate population identified as LGBTQI. Almost half of them felt that the campus wasn’t responsive to reports of discrimination and harassment compared to 70 percent of the straight campus population.

The university’s Protect the Pack initiative calls for the development of a Coordinated Community Response team of internal and external partners to oversee the ongoing project implementation.

The CCR team will include campus administrators, members of the New York State Police Department’s Campus Sexual Assault Victim Unit Troop, the Cattaraugus County Sheriff’s Office, and Cattaraugus Community Action.

The university, with guidance from the members of the CCR team, will create an integrated, seamless, trauma-informed and culturally sensitive team to assist victims of SADVDVS.

“The CCR team will ensure that victim services, policies and procedures are communicated throughout the campus, building student confidence in using those systems and trust that SBU will respond with fair, speedy, thorough and consistent actions,” said Nichole Gonzalez, executive director for Residential Living and Conduct. Gonzalez helped author the grant.

The grant calls for the hiring of a full-time project coordinator to oversee planning, implementation and goal achievement and to coordinate the work of the CCR team. The coordinator will work closely with the OVW throughout the three-year grant period.

A dedicated victims specialist also will be provided, trained and supervised by Cattaraugus Community Action. The specialist will be housed on campus 15 to 20 hours per week and will have a dedicated cell phone for hotline response, backed up by CCA’s hotline when needed.

Funding also will be used to:

• provide ongoing accommodations, accessible materials, and specialized assistance to LGBTQI students, marginalized populations, active military-and/or veteran students, students of color, students with learning disabilities, deaf/hard of hearing, and those students with Limited English Proficiency (LEP);
• provide ongoing mandatory prevention and education programs for all incoming students;
• provide ongoing training to all campus law enforcement to respond effectively to sexual assault, domestic violence, dating violence, and/or stalking;
• provide ongoing training to all members of campus disciplinary personnel to respond effectively to situations and reports involving sexual assault, domestic violence, dating violence, and/or stalking; and
• provide confidential on-campus services through a grant funded victim advocate position and referrals to confidential off-campus services for victims of sexual assault, domestic violence, dating violence, and/or stalking.

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About the University: The nation’s first Franciscan university, we believe in the goodness of every person and in the ability of every person to do extraordinary things. St. Bonaventure University cultivates graduates who are confident and creative communicators, collaborative leaders and team members, and innovative problem solvers who are respectful of themselves, others, and the diverse world around them. Named the #1 regional university value in New York and #2 in the North by U.S. News and World Report, we are establishing pathways to internships, graduate schools and careers in the context of our renowned liberal arts tradition.