Over the next five years, the College’s Title IX Office will receive a total of $50,000 from the Maryland Department of Health’s Rape and Sexual Assault Prevention Program at the Center for Injury and Sexual Assault Prevention. The focus of the grant is “Preventing Campus Sexual Assault through Social Norms Change” and on implementing strategies to mobilize men and boys as allies to prevent sexual violence. This is the College’s third, and most significant, award from the Maryland Department of Health in the past three years.
The College will use these funds to continue developing a relationship with A Call to Men, a national violence prevention organization first brought to campus in 2017. A Call to Men is known for its important work with professional sports leagues, the U.S. military, and many other institutions.
For the next five years, trainers from A Call to Men will come to campus each semester to engage in ongoing programming and development with the general campus community as well as specific male populations, such as men’s sports teams and residential communities. The College will also use grant funds to support student professional fellows and upper-class students working on St. Mary’s Projects on related topics.
Michael Dunn, SMCM’s Director of Title IX Compliance and Training/Title IX Coordinator, is “very excited about the opportunity to develop impactful, sustained prevention work with influential campus communities, and to weave together academic and pre-professional opportunities”. Dunn appreciates the support of campus partners, including Student Affairs, Athletics, and Academic Affairs, in helping pull the pieces of the grant proposal and planned programming together.
