Cedar Crest College has been awarded a $40,000 grant from the Pennsylvania Department of Education’s “It’s On Us PA” program, a statewide campaign with a goal of helping to combat sexual assault through education and awareness and empower survivors. Cedar Crest College is one of 43 colleges and universities across the Commonwealth to recently be awarded the grant, totaling more than $1.7 million towards combating sexual assault and making college campuses safer.
This marks the third round of “It’s On Us PA” grants and Cedar Crest’s third consecutive year receiving a $40,000 award.
“We are so excited to be recognized as a recipient of the ‘It’s On Us PA’ grant to continue the work we have started. The programming and education we are able to provide through these grants is vital to our community,” said Amy Porter, Assistant Dean of Students and Title IX Coordinator at Cedar Crest.
Educational programming provided to the campus community under the Title IX umbrella includes creating safe communities, consent, healthy communication in relationships, trauma-informed healing and self-care, self-defense, advocating for others, healthy relationships and boundary setting, and more. The College partners with Turning Point Lehigh Valley, Crime Victims Council, Bradbury Sullivan, and several other organizations.
“We also use the funds to train Title IX team members to ensure they meet their yearly training requirement and have the ability to practice their skills and further their knowledge base,” said Amy.
“It’s On Us PA” brings together college and university presidents, superintendents, administrators, teachers, students, families, and community members to reframe the conversation around sexual violence and pledge to be part of the solution. The “It’s On Us PA” campaign is based on a core belief that sexual violence shouldn’t be part of any student’s education and invites education leaders – and all Pennsylvanians – to protect students from sexual violence.
“Healthy relationships and violence prevention require safe communities where people of all backgrounds and communities know that resources and help are available when they have questions and when they are in crisis. This is especially important on university and college campuses, where so many young people experience independence for the first time,” Pennsylvania Secretary of Education Dr. Carrie Rowe said. “The ‘It’s On Us PA’ campaign challenges all of us to confront the problem of sexual violence directly through awareness, prevention, and support services for survivors. These efforts make a real difference in the lives of young people.”
Learn more about the grant here.
By Catherine Stroh