The Office of Violence Against Women at the Department of Justice has awarded the offices of counseling services at North Carolina A&T State University, Bennett College for Women and Shaw University $500,000 for their consortium grant on Resources, Intervention, Services, and Education Project (RISE).

Dr. Vivian Barnette executive director of the office of Counseling Services represents North Carolina A&T on the consortium team.

“Funding from our RISE grant is designed to help our campus community with reducing violence against women as well as strengthen services and protection to victims so that they can pursue safe and healthy lives,” said Barnette. “Activities such as outreach programming, training, and resources will be provided to faculty and staff for victim safety, offender accountability and prevention.  Additionally, we will collaborate with victim advocacy organizations and local criminal justice agencies to develop victim service programs as well as protocols and policies.” 

The grant is funded for three years and will focus on reducing domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking on college campuses as well as encourage an adoption of comprehensive and coordinated responses to these crimes. Outreach programming, training, and resources will be provided for victim safety, offender accountability, and prevention.

Each campus will partner with community-based nonprofit victim advocacy organizations and local criminal justice or civil legal agencies for development of protocols and policies to treat violence against women as a serious offense as well as offer victim service programs. Bennett College for Women will serve as the lead institution.