If you have ever wandered the hallways of the Ceddia Union Building at Shippensburg University, you have likely come across the colored banner for the Pride Center. The Pride Center is only part of a much bigger resource on campus. In the winter of 2021, CUB 232 was officially dubbed the PAGE Center (Pride and Gender Equity) and combined forces with the former Women’s Center.

Of the many resources the PAGE Center provides to the student body, the most important one is connecting students with agencies outside the realm of Shippensburg University. PAGE Center Director Miller Hoffman believes in an invisible mental barrier, one that prevents students from seeking out help when it is not immediately available, whether driving long distances or having to jump through several hoops to get the help they need.

The YWCA (Young Women's Christian Association) Carlisle & Cumberland County is one of the resources the PAGE Center has made available to students who may be struggling with sexual violence, racism or other forms of harm. “It’s the Cumberland County Program,” Hoffman explained. “Every county in Pennsylvania has at least one center that provides services and support to survivors of sexual violence and domestic violence.”

Shippensburg University’s collaboration with the YWCA has been a longstanding one, well before Miller Hoffman took over as director in the spring. “The YW has had a relationship with Shippensburg for quite a while. There are a number of us who are at Ship in faculty or staff positions who have been in the YW, specifically the Rape-Crisis Center.” He continued, “Some of us have been on campus almost 10 or 15 years ago.” Hoffman also mentioned that previous productions of “The Vagina Monologues” had been done to benefit the YWCA as well.

In 2015, Lily Durante-Evans served for the YWCA in Dauphin County as an intern; she transferred in October 2020 to Cumberland County as the program director and now serves as vice president for the organization.

When asked about the issues facing college campuses like Shippensburg and the importance of students being able to access the YWCA, Durante-Evans said, “What we find is that through the general school system, they’re not really getting that education or support on how to build general relationships.” She continued, “In college, the only tip they have is don’t get assaulted and don’t be the person to assault someone. There’s no in-between.”

2022 saw the passage of Act 55 of the Public School Code. Article XX-G now states that, “All institutions of higher education (institutions) and private licensed schools (schools) must establish and maintain a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with at least one local rape crisis center and one local domestic violence program.”

It should be noted that YWCA services are available not only to victims of any of these injustices but to the family and friends of those who have been victims as well. If you are seeking the services of the YWCA, the PAGE Center offers drop-in hours on Wednesdays from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. and a hotline that's available 24/7.

“Just call. Call or walk into those office hours, and again, we operate very well with the hypothetical. If you don’t want to associate yourself with the situation specifically or you’re just looking for support for someone else, ask those questions,” Durante-Evans explained when asked what is the best advice she can give to anyone who may be struggling.

The YWCA Carlisle & Cumberland County is located at 301 G Street, in Carlisle, and the office can be contacted at 717-243-3818.

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