Grant to Help SDSU Better Prevent Sexual Assault

The money comes after a string of reported assaults last year

San Diego State University has received a $200,000 grant that will be used to fund a full-time sexual assault victim advocate on campus in addition to other prevention and educational resources.

The grant, from the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES), will provide for a full-time sexual assault victim advocate on campus who will be trained and hired through the Center for Community Solutions. The money will also provide for a part-time police officer dedicated to sexual assault prevention.

The grant comes after 13 sexual assaults were reported on campus and police made an arrest in one case during the school's fall semester. Seven of the alleged incidents happened at locations classified as fraternities. The SDSU Green community also came under fire at the time for the reports and in December the community announced new sexual assault awareness training for fraternity and sorority members.

SDSU fraternity Delta Sigma Phi was shut down in December after a participant in a march meant to stop violence against woman said people at parties shouted obscenities and threw eggs at marchers – including waiving inappropriate objects as the marchers passed by.

The school submitted the proposal for the grant to Cal OES in July of last year and will be committing an additional $66,667 of its own money to support grant activities.

SDSU is one of two universities to receive the annual allocation of up to $200,000 per year for three years. California State University Long Beach also received a grant.

In addition to funding new staff, money from the grant will help the university expand its Sexual Violence Task Force with community agencies and local law enforcement. Any additional funds will go toward student, faculty and staff training as well as educational materials and community outreach efforts.

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