Story by Zoebelle Bean, News Columnist
Aquinas received a three-year, $292,000 grant from the U.S Department of Justice Office on Violence Against Women in October of 2022. This three-year program would use the local police as well as the YWCA to educate, prevent, and respond to assaults, violence, and stalking against women on campus, according to an article from MLive.
Alicia Lloyd and Alicia Cordoba were given responsibility for this effort, and part of the grant included a training program for students, staff, and employees.
The program would include services such as support groups, therapy, and rape exams centering around victims of women abuse. Part of the grant allowed for an increased staff capacity to allow for greater emergency response.
This program launched in 2022 with the incoming ‘26 freshman at the time, and today signs of it are visible around campus. Title IX has been instituted and every staff member is a mandated reporter, so they are required to inform students about Title IX and the protections it gives women, as well as report anything they may be told from students concerning abuse, misconduct, and stalking incidents. Title IX prohibits any sex-discriminating activities from occurring on campus.
Not only that, but signs on the campus halls and bathrooms, telling students that there are safe havens available to people who have experienced abuse or are unsure of their relationships and want to seek help. These signs inform students of places they can seek safety if being stalked or otherwise abused.
However, the Student Senate has brought up this grant several times to address the progress of it. It’s 2024, and if the grant is progressing on schedule, there should be further actions taken at this point to ensure the college is following through. There appears to be nothing more than the signage and the institution of Title IX and the Coordinator, Alicia Lloyd.
According to research done by Junior Abbey Vallance, the project director, Natalie Crane, no longer works here and half the team has left since the beginning of the grant program, but there was a conference in Atlanta, Georgia in June on this subject and Alicia Lloyd is working as the project director alongside campus safety currently.
This grant will allow Aquinas to guarantee safety to all students and hopefully in the future, it will allow everyone on campus equal freedoms and rights that make way for a stable environment and education.
Recently, Aquinas appointed Lynn Atkins-Rykert, a long time AQ staff member, to be program director of this grant.
Featured Image courtesy of Colleges of Distinction
The Saint 