McIntyre Presents $260,304 Check to UNCW to Develop National Model for Campus Violence Prevention
8/29/2006 3:38:45 PM
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Wilmington, N.C. - U.S. Congressman Mike McIntyre (D-NC) today presented the University of North Carolina Wilmington a check for $260,304 in federal funds to help prevent violent behavior among college students.
Federal funds, appropriated by Congress, and distributed from the United States Department of Education, were allotted to UNCW's CARE: Collaboration for Assault Response and Education. This project has three main goals: 1) create a comprehensive campus violence prevention model, 2) generate a coordinated series of programs and services to address relationship violence, 3) develop a model relationship violence protocol, including an environmental scanning tool for campus violence and a campus violence survey. CARE will receive approximately $130,152 annually for the next two years for this project.
McIntyre stated, "Tomorrow's leaders are being educated, nurtured, and molded at UNCW. These federal funds will help ensure that their education is done in the most safe and secure environment, and I commend UNCW for this CARE initiative. It will truly make a difference."
University communities are not immune from issues that affect society as a whole. A 2004 FBI report of on-campus crime at more than 500 colleges revealed 12 murders, 548 forcible rapes, 648 robberies and 1,350 aggravated assaults reported that year.
"Campus violence is an issue prevalent on college campuses across the country as well as in our community," commented Chancellor Rosemary DePaolo during the check presentation. "At UNCW, we have reexamined all facets of campus safety and are educating aggressively male and female students, faculty and staff about violence prevention. With this grant, UNCW plans to develop a model program of relationship violence prevention that other colleges can emulate."
UNCW's two-year project is called "Weaving the Fabric of a Non-Violent University." Grant project director, Rebecca Caldwell, director of substance abuse and violence prevention in the Division of Student Affairs, noted that this grant will fund "specific outreach programs to UNCW families, off-campus students, faculty and staff, and students who have been affected by experiences of violence prior to arriving on campus, including in their homes.
"We will enhance our on-going violence prevention programs for students, including new programs addressing unhealthy and abusive relationships and the murky and often damaging intersection of risky drinking and sexual activity," she said.
Peer educators will be a crucial component of these educational programs, because in the campus environment, no one can put these issues in just the right language or speak with as much credibility as another student.
UNCW's outreach to students will include a special focus on men's role in preventing violence on campus and in society. This grant funds a two-year full-time position that coordinates programs for UNCW men.
"Our ultimate goal is to create a model relationship violence prevention and response program, including innovative new assessment tools, campus policies and procedures, and programs for all members of the community, for other campuses to duplicate in their own efforts to address these issues," Caldwell said. "This grant project will afford us the opportunity to become a national leader and contribute to the entire field of collegiate violence prevention."
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Caldwell can be reached at 910/962-7360.
Downloadable Photos
Congressman McIntyre with Rebecca Caldwell
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