SU Launches a Domestic Violence Website

By Louise Rath

SYRACUSE, N.Y. – Syracuse University is celebrating domestic violence awareness month by launching a new sexual and relationship violence website.

The Chancellor’s Task Force on Sexual and Relationship Violence centralized resources such as sexual violence education, prevention, and reporting procedures for students and faculty.

“I’d really just encourage people to take the time to educate themselves about sexual relationship violence and really how they can support a friend, and I think this website is a great way and a great starting point for people to do that,” said Katelyn Cowen, Director of Health Programming with the Barnes Center at the Arch, and a member of the Chancellor’s task force.

Cowen said the task force noticed gaps in the location of sexual and relationship violence resources, and the need for a website to centralize these resources, thanks to an initiative created by the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators.

NASPA’s Culture of Respect program offers tools for educational institutions to end sexual and relationship violence on college campuses.

“It provides a nice framework for cultural change on campus as it relates to sexual relationship violence. So, this has been a really great program to be a part of with other institutions across the country,” Cowen said.

Cowen also said they did a “soft launch” of their website, and now the task force is getting out the word of their new website using Barnes Center peer educators and pop-up health hubs on campus.

The Chancellor’s task force is set to conduct a sexual and relationship violence survey this spring, as they do every other year.

“We’re very excited for that to happen so we can gather the good data that we need to be able to continuously improve on our campus culture and what we’re doing around sexual relationship violence,” Cowen said.

The task force will celebrate domestic violence awareness month throughout October by lighting the Hall of Languages and Carrier Dome purple to show support for survivors.

They will also hold an office decorating contest and celebrate national wear purple day on October 21^st.