Shippensburg University was recently selected to receive a grant that will enable its staff to provide higher level security for victims of sexual assault.

In a proposal written by the Women’s Center, Office of Social Equity and the women & gender studies minor, SU requested a $27,000 grant to fund three projects in congruence with the university’s “No More” campaign.

These projects included creating a 24-hour sexual assault hotline, an advanced online security system and an app that students can utilize to report instances of assault.

Stephanie Erdice, SU’s interim director of social equity and former Women’s Center director, said the enhancements to the “No More” campaign will include introducing county-wide sexual assault resources as well as medical and legal advocates that will be trained on SU policies.

“They are real experts on sexual assault resources and we are very excited to bring them on board,” Erdice said.

She said she hopes creating an app of SU’s own will make students willing to download and document their experiences with assault.

“It gives us the ability to put the tools right in [the students’] hands,” Erdice said. “Our app is user-friendly and really meant to break down barriers and improve the reporting.”

The idea to build upon SU’s campaign has existed for some time, but had not been formulated due to a lack of financial resources, according to Erdice. Once Pennsylvania’s department of education announced that grants of up to $30,000 were being offered to combat sexual assault, Erdice said SU began putting its ideas in motion.

The grant is offered to Pennsylvania by It’s On Us PA, a statewide campaign that brings together a variety of individuals with the collective goal to raise awareness of sexual assault on college campuses.

“It’s a great tool for the state as a whole to diminish the amount of assaults on college campuses,” Erdice said.

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