Jun 19, 2002 By Nikki Stiles For The 4 min read

CALIFORNIA – Rape is a four-letter word that years ago people rarely spoke of and even today many shy away from. However, California University of Pennsylvania is making an effort to combat the problem head on and try to help victims of rape and other forms of sexual violence.

“California chooses to address these problems, so, if anything, I think we’re a step ahead of many of the universities who aren’t addressing these issues,” said Charisse Martin, coordinator of the school’s Prevention, Education, Advocacy for Change and Empowerment (PEACE) Project.

On the Cal U campus, the PEACE Project is housed with the Student Sexual Assault Response Team (SSART).

SSART, which was started about eight years ago by Cal U students, provides a 24-hour, seven-day-a-week crisis hotline manned by trained student volunteers who provide emotional support and information.

“A lot of misconception about the hotline is that people who call have just been assaulted, and sometimes it’s not that,” Martin said. “Sometimes people just need someone to talk to because something has triggered those memories of a past assault and those issues come back up. So, a lot of times they just need support or someone to talk to or advocacy about things they didn’t handle at that time.”

But, the PEACE Project does more than provide advocacy. The project strives to educate the campus and the community on how to prevent these types of violence before they begin.

“We are doing something positive as far as prevention, education and addressing these issues and being proactive instead of reactive,” said Nancy Skobel, PEACE Project director.

Both Skobel, who is from Grindstone, and Martin, who is from Brownsville, said they got involved with PEACE and SSART because they had friends who were sexually assaulted.

Martin, while she was an undergraduate student at Cal U, had a very close friend who was involved in a violent relationship. However, at that time, Martin said, she didn’t know where to go to seek help for her friend.

“If it happened now I could provide her with more resources on where to go and who to talk to,” she said.

Now, the reasons for getting involved are even more extensive.

“Also, over the past two years I recognized the need for a program like this at the university,” Martin said. “The only way that you can prevent things is to educate people about it. They are coming to college for an education, so we need to give them that education to take with them.”

The roots of the PEACE project began in 1999 after Cal U was one of 21 colleges and universities in the United States and the only university in the state chosen to receive a $250,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Justice’s Violence Against Women Prevention office. Skobel said the project received an increase in funding in 2001 and now receives $298,000 a year, until 2003.

“We were the only institution in the state to receive this funding. Then, we did it again, which is virtually unheard of,” Cal U President Dr. Angelo Armenti Jr. said. “A lot of great things have happened at California University of Pennsylvania in the last 150 years, and I consider this as one of the most important achievements that has taken place in my time.”

Skobel said that Armenti, along with Dr. Paul E. Burd, vice president for student development services, and Tim Susick, the dean for student development, have all been very supportive of the PEACE Project.

Susick, who is also a judicial officer, helped coordinate the team that worked on the grant that was awarded for the project.

“As a judicial officer, I deal with the perpetrators and the survivors of violence, so I recognized the need for these types of services for our students,” Susick said.

Through the PEACE Project, more students are coming forward who are either victims or witnesses to violence, Susick said. The project efforts also have led to an update in sexual assault protocol, which outlines how the university responds when a victim reports a sexual assault and an update in the student code conduct, which details behavioral expectations of students. In addition, Susick said, the university has added a clear definition of what constitutes consent to sex.

Although Cal U has made progress, both Skobel and Martin agree that society still needs to do more in dealing with the problem. For instance, they noted that too often rape victims are blamed for the way they dressed or the way they acted.

“There needs to be a change in attitude that we have and getting men involved. A woman can only protect herself so much,” Martin said.

For information, call the PEACE Project 724-938-5707 or the SSART crisis hotline at 888-480-7283.