More than 125 days after a report was submitted by the Chancellor’s Workgroup on Sexual Violence Prevention, Education and Advocacy, Chancellor Kent Syverud has announced the members of a permanent task force on sexual assault and relationship violence.

Syverud announced the appointment of the 30 members of the task force last Thursday. The workgroup’s final report listed short-term and long-term recommendations, including the creation of a permanent task force, and was submitted Dec. 17, 2014.

The new task force will meet for the first time on Friday and is co-chaired by Joanna Masingila, dean of the School of Education, and Rebecca Reed Kantrowitz, senior vice president and dean of student affairs.

In its final report, the workgroup recommended the task force consist of experts who can “respond to systems of power and privilege” and “encompass multiple perspectives including those from marginalized and under-represented groups on campus.”

The workgroup recommended the task force review sexual assault and relationship violence services, policies and programs. Syverud said in an SU News release the task force will carry out this review every semester and also further implement and improve sexual violence prevention, education and advocacy services on campus.

Masingila said in the release that the task force has been charged with “important and meaningful work.”

“I am confident that my colleagues and I will address these issues in the best interests of our students,” Masingila said.

The task force’s 30 members come from various areas of the university, including the LGBT Resource Center, the Office of Health Promotions, Vera House and the Department of Public Safety.

Cory Wallack, director of the SU Counseling Center and member of the task force, said in email that the task force will be an important “collective expertise” to help develop a centralized university response to sexual and relationship violence.

Wallack added that the task force will be crucial in providing community feedback and identifying areas that could be improved in the prevention and intervention efforts of the Sexual and Relationship Violence Response Team, which is housed within the Counseling Center.

“The work of preventing and intervening with sexual and relationship violence extends across all areas of the university,” Wallack said. “This task force can do the important work of bringing all of those areas together.”

The Division of Student Affairs has partnered with Syverud and other departments on campus to institute a number of the workgroup’s other recommendations, including creating new support groups and signing on with the White House’s “It’s On Us” campaign, among others.

Kantrowitz, co-chair of the task force, said in the release that she is certain the task force will have “a significant, positive and enduring impact on our campus culture.”

Published on April 27, 2015 at 11:55 pm

Contact Lydia: lawilson@syr.edu