State aid combats sexual assault, harassment by raising awareness

State-funded programs to combat sexual harassment and violence on campus through education is paying dividends, state education officials were told Friday at Seton Hill University in Greensburg.

The programs are raising awareness through plays, speakers, activities, workshops and frank discussions, according to Seton Hill officials.

In a 45-minute roundtable discussion, the state education leaders were told by a group of about 20 faculty, administrators and staff that the money from the state’s It’s On Us PA grant program has allowed Seton Hill to expand its outreach to students, improve its training programs and awareness initiatives.

Since 2018, Seton Hill University of Greensburg has received four It’s On Us PA grants totaling More than $93,000. The grant program is designed for two-year and four-year colleges and universities to educate students about how to prevent sexual harassment and violence.

Part of the campaign is to teach participants to identify dangerous situations, and that assault includes non-consensual sex.

The Blackburn Center in Greensburg, which operates a women’s shelter in Greensburg, has been involved on campus to make students aware of its resources, said Kristin Malone-Bodair, the center’s education and outreach program manager.

“It kind of opens up the dialogue,” Malone-Bodair said.

The grants provide the resources to offer programs to reach athletes, both male and female, said Susan Eichenberger, Seton Hill associate professor of sociology.

“We’re getting them to pay attention to the root causes of sexual harassment … where they have a greater understanding of what that is,” such as catcalls and other demeaning actions, Eichenberger said.

Programs also have been directed at faculty and staff to make them aware of gender-based violence, Eichenberger said.

Kate McCarty of Butler, a freshman involved in a play about sexual assault, “Jane Doe,” said that a post-play discussion among students brought a frank discussion violence.

Seton Hill, which got a $29,000 It’s On Us grant in December, was one of four universities in the region and among the 34 colleges and universities that received nearly $930,000 in It’s On Us grants for this year.

Other university recipients

• Carnegie Mellon University said it would use its $29,000 grant to raise awareness at a universal level through building positive, healthy relationships and creating a strategic plan for a caring, culturally responsive community. The money will be used to increase reporting, educate students, and provide strategic training for groups identified as high-risk.

• Indiana University of Pennsylvania said it plans to use its $30,000 grant to complete a comprehensive evaluation of the school’s response to sexual violence, including an evaluation of the services provided, barriers that prevent survivors from accessing those services, awareness of the university’s affirmative consent language and reporting options.

• California University of Pennsylvania plans to use its $30,000 grant to increase awareness and provide training by having administrators, faculty, staff and students take the pledge to be part of the solution to stop sexual assault. The End Violence Center will use the grant to focus on incoming first-year students. Steps also will be taken to enhance awareness and use of on- and off-campus resources for survivors of sexual assault, the university said.

The Wolf administration has asked the General Assembly for an additional $500,000 in the 2022-2023 budget for the It’s On Us PA grant program that annually distributes about $1 million. Since 2016, the state has awarded 184 It’s On Us grants totaling nearly $6 million to post-secondary institutions.

The General Assembly is considering a package of four bills designed to strengthen protection against sexual assault on campus by:

• Enacting a ‘yes means yes’ law to require all post-secondary institutions to have policies with clear standards of what is and is not consent.

• Requiring schools to inform victims of on-campus crime to inform them of their rights and services and provide protective accommodations, if requested.

• Teaching middle and high school students to know and prevent dating violence, sexual assault, sexual harassment and stalking.

• Create a task force to study sexual assault, dating violence, domestic violence and stalking in grades 6-12 and post-secondary schools.