The State University of New York at Fredonia has secured a three-year, $200,000 grant from the United States Department of Justice to establish the Campus Education, Awareness, Support and Effect (CEASE) program, a project dedicated to the prevention of violent acts against female members of the university community.
 
"We want our students to be well-informed," said Vice President of Student Affairs David Herman. "SUNY Fredonia has had a long history of being one of the safest campuses in the state of New York, and we will work to continue to remain one of the safest."
 
Officials from the SUNY Fredonia University Police Department, Counseling Center and the Office of Grant Administration and Research Services learned of the availability of the federal Department of Justice funds in January 2004. The grant development process took roughly six weeks and included the support of such off-campus agencies as Brooks Memorial Hospital, the village of Fredonia Police Department and the Salvation Army, which operates a rape crisis hotline in Chautauqua County. SUNY Fredonia administrators learned the project had been approved in late August.
 
"It's always very satisfying to learn you have been funded," said Maggie Bryan-Peterson, director of the Office of Grant Administration and Research Services. Ms. Bryan-Peterson and her staff worked closely with University Police Chief Ann Burns and Counseling Center Director Sally Murphy to develop the successful grant application. "There were a bunch of folks who were willing to work very hard, who were willing to work together as a team because they saw this program as something that this campus needs."
 
The CEASE program will be implemented during the spring and summer of 2005 and will address issues of sexual assault, dating violence, domestic violence and stalking. A project coordinator will be hired during the Fall 2004 semester and will be responsible for planning and conducting a number of new activities, including:

Abuse prevention courses for male members of the student body, including athletes, fraternity members and freshmen;

 

Training sessions for officers in the University Police Department as well as individuals serving on university disciplinary boards, campus administrators and other key personnel;

 

The development of coordinated emergency response and support systems with partners such as Brooks Hospital, the Salvation Army's Rape Crisis Hotline and the village of Fredonia Police Department.

 
"We are trying to bring together all of the agencies that a victim would deal with in the case of a sexual assault or a domestic situation," said Police Chief Burns. "We want to take the natural flow of agencies and individuals and make the process as effective as possible."
 
According to a nationwide poll of taken in 2000, 13 percent of female college students indicated that they had been forced to have sex in a dating situation. This number is also believed to be lower than the true figure due to the failure of many victims to come forward. SUNY Fredonia officials are hopeful that a coordinated effort of education, response and support will mean these terrible situations are eventually eliminated from at least one university campus.
 
"We're going to be able to target groups for education and training, and we will be able to have a full-time person who can stay in constant touch with these issues," Police Chief Burns said. "I am very pleased that we have been able to put a program together that we are confident will be successful."
 
For more information on sexual assault, domestic violence, date violence or stalking, please contact the SUNY Fredonia Counseling Center at (716) 673-3424. Students who feel they are the victims of any crime should contact University Police at (716) 673-3465 immediately.