The new Center for Community Action and Prevention, expected to open July 1, will introduce and redistribute new and preexisting resources for sexual assault prevention.
A new center brings the challenge of transitioning to a new institutional structure for addressing sexual assault.
“There’s still a lot of questions about exactly when that will happen and exactly how will that look, and all of those things we’re still working on,” director of health promotion and student wellness Aurora Matzkin said. “It’s an opportunity to better collaborate and coordinate.”
Sexual Assault Awareness Program coordinator Amanda Childress will not head the new center, as was initially announced in February.
Childress received scrutiny after speaking at a Feb. 12 panel on sexual misconduct at the University of Virginia. Inside Higher Ed reported that Childress asked, “Why could we not expel a student based on an allegation,” asserting that removing alleged perpetrators, who are “reasonably a threat to our community,” would ensure student safety.
But Childress said that these comments were not linked to her decision to reject the position at CCAP. She said she wanted to stay with SAAP because she did not feel comfortable transitioning to a new project without finding a replacement in response work.
“It’s making sure that survivors have support along the way,” Childress said. “Our concern has always been making sure that no one gets lost in the middle of all the craziness that’s happening.”
Because CCAP is still in development, Center for Gender and Student Engagement assistant director Michelle Hector said she does not yet know how the new center will influence CGSE. CGSE manages gender-related resources and programming and might therefore fall under CCAP’s jurisdiction.
Student and Presidential Committee on Sexual Assault chair Sophia Pedlow ’15 said in an email to The Dartmouth that she does not know whether the committee will be affected by the new center.
Because SPCSA is student-run, it should not fall under CCAP’s domain, Pedlow wrote. She said that any decision to restructure or reorganize SPCSA would come from students on the committee.
Pedlow said a period of necessary adjustment accompanies any change. Since CCAP will expand sexual assault prevention resources, it may increase the relevance and importance of assault prevention on campus, she added.
“This [center] has been a consistent recommendation from the Student Presidential Committee on Sexual Assault for at least two years,” Matzkin said. “It’s not random.”
The College has divided sexual assault resources into four categories: education, response and support, prevention and accountability. CCAP will direct its efforts toward developing new prevention programs such as the Dartmouth Bystander Initiative, Dean of the College Charlotte Johnson said.
DBI is a sexual assault prevention program that trains bystanders to recognize and intervene in potentially dangerous environments.
“A person who has been sexually assaulted or someone who even knows someone who has been sexually assaulted is more likely to report if they are engaged with the issue in some way, if they are at the table, if they are involved,” Johnson said.
The center intends to achieve its mission by establishing “points of connection” among students, alumni, faculty and staff at Dartmouth, Johnson said. The center expects to cultivate relationships with current campus organizations, such as the Dickey Center for International Understanding, Rockefeller Center and the Center for Professional Development, she said.
CCAP will strive to provide new resources as well as consolidate some positions in hopes of creating a “hub for prevention efforts,” Johnson said.
Prevention efforts currently fall under the jurisdiction of the office of student health promotion and wellness, Johnson said.
For example, SAAP, which acts through the office of student health promotion and wellness, has directed prevention and support resources since the organization’s inception in 1989. SAAP will transfer its prevention efforts to CCAP and focus primarily on response programs, director of health promotion and student wellness Aurora Matzkin said.
SAAP also functions as a programming coordinator, organizing programs such as Sex Signals, V-Week and other events for Sexual Assault Awareness Month.
SAAP will continue its role and does not anticipate falling under the domain of CCAP, SAAP coordinator Rebekah Carrow said.
While CCAP’s focus on prevention manifests a desire to get “in front” of the issue, Carrow said that it is important to continue to provide support services through SAAP.
Childress said she and Carrow will be collaborating with the new staff for CCAP and others on sexual violence prevention and response efforts.
She said she expects to see many shifts in the structuring of resources, but as Johnson will soon leave the College, it is still unclear where those shifts will occur.
“It’s going to be something that we’ll see guidance from our new leadership and the president on how to go from here,” Childress said.
Sera Kwon and Sara McGahan contributed reporting.
