Delco Community College Gets Grant To Combat Sexual Violence

DELAWARE COUNTY, PA — Delaware County Community College has been awarded a grant from the Pennsylvania Department of Education that seeks to reduce instances of sexual violence on university campuses.

State Rep. Jennifer O’Mara Wednesday announced that three higher education institutions received It’s On Us PA state grants.

Delaware County Community College got $15,350 in grant funding.

Delaware County Community College is one of five applicants that received It’s on Us carryover dollars.

The department of education is able to offer additional grant awards totaling $76,753 to the next five highest-scoring applicants as part of the 2020-2021 It’s on Us grant competition.

The grant funding can be used through May 2022 to address goals of the It’s On Us PA campaign, including:

• Improve awareness, prevention, reporting and response systems regarding sexual violence in college.
• Remove or reduce barriers that prevent survivors of sexual violence from reporting or accessing resources.
• Demonstrate leadership to change campus culture by challenging Pennsylvania’s education leaders to improve an institution’s climate around sexual assault.

"In order to end sexual violence, we need to examine this issue from many different angles. Supporting survivors is a worthwhile mission, but it’s crucial we do more to prevent these instances from happening in the first place," O’Mara said. "This funding is a valuable investment in safety, well-being and character of not just college students, but the working professionals of tomorrow."

Additionally, Cabrini and Eater universities each got $30,000 of It’s On Us PA grant money.