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ICARE explained: Strategic plan approved, subcommittees move forward Morgan Matzen
Morgan.Matzen@coyotes.usd.edu
The ICARE strategic plan, a $300,000 sexual assault prevention and education grant the university received in 2016, was approved on Oct. 20. ICARE stands for Inclusive, Compassion, Accountability, Respect and Engagement. It’s “committed to preventing and responding to sexual assault in the University of South Dakota community through programming and advocacy,” according to the mission statement. ICARE program coordinator Marisa Cummings was hired Feb. 14, 2017. Since the grant’s approval, Cummings has been working with the Coordinated Community Response Team (CCRT) and subcommittees to prepare for ICARE’s implementation. “We went through a very purposeful and thought-out strategic planning process,” Cummings said. “We made sure that the people in the CCRT are individuals with key positions in the university that can institute change. Everyone that sat at that table has the power to institute change and cause systemic change that is long-term.” Subcommittees for the grant include law enforcement, advocacy, conduct and policy, prevention, mobilizing men, programming and assessment.
Law Enforcement
Leah Dusterhoft I The Volante
Vermillion Police Department Lieutenant Crystal Brady is one member of the law enforcement subcommittee.
The strategic plan details many of the duties of the law enforcement subcommittee, including a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Title IX office on campus. Crystal Brady said VPD has a duty to prosecute cases, while the Title IX office investigates cases on campus. “We try to make sure that we’re not stepping on their toes and they’re not stepping on our toes when we’re trying to accomplish the same thing,” Crystal Brady said. “It’s just a better way for us to work together to get a better result.” With ICARE’s victimcentered approach, one goal of law enforcement is to develop training for officers on cultural competency and the neurobiology of trauma. Crystal Brady said the required trauma training will take place this month and will give officers a better understanding of where victims are coming from. “I think that it’s additional information that the officers will have just to give a better understanding on where victims are coming from, what they’ve been through, why they maybe react the way they do to certain things or why they don’t make a report right away,” Crystal Brady said.
Advocacy
Laura Brady, a rural advocate for Domestic Violence Safe Options Services, was recently hired as USD’s first campus victim advocate. Her responsibilities include remaining
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Everyone that sat at that table has the power to institute change and cause systemic change that is long-term. Marisa Cummings, ICARE program coordinator
on-call through DVSOS for any student who needs advocacy service. Part of her salary is paid through the grant, Cummings said. An advocate provides confidential services to victims to support them in their healing or reporting process, Laura Brady said. “We are not counselors, but we support in their healing process and then we also assist them and support them through any legal proceedings that they approve,” she said. “All of our services are completely confidential and free.” Cummings said an advocate is someone who’s there for victims every step of the way. It’s up to the victim whether or not they opt for an advocate to be involved in the process, she added. “These processes are confusing, especially when someone is going through trauma, so that’s what the advocate does,” Cummings said. “They’re there for the emotional well-being of the victim.” Other parts of the advocacy subcommittee include the Student Counseling Center and Student Health at Sanford. Cummings said the subcommittee has worked with Sanford to create a more victim-centered approach
to working with rape kits. A checklist has been implemented for nurses who aren’t trained as SANE nurses (sexual assault nurse examiners). “Rape kits are complicated,” Cummings said. “If you’re not a SANE trained nurse, they may not have done a rape kit, so making sure there’s a checklist so they know what to do. This is an issue everywhere in the country with rape kits, and I think that’s an area we’ve identified that can be really emotionally traumatic for the victim to have to go through.”
Conduct and policy
Kim Grieve, vice president of student affairs and dean of students and Khara Iverson, director of equal opportunity & Title IX coordinator are both involved in the conduct and policy subcommittee. Their focus is on changing South Dakota Board of Regents policies, specifically Human Rights Complaint Procedures (1.18) and the Student Code of Conduct (3.4). “There are a lot of changes to the wording of the student conduct policy. However, based on the new Title IX guidelines from Betsy DeVos, our See ICARE, Page A2
Football player arrested on new rape charge Volante Staff Volante@usd.edu
Sophomore football player Dale Williamson has been charged with one count of second-degree rape in addition to the previous charge of attempted second-degree rape levied against him in October. Williamson turned himself in to Clay CounWILLIAMSON ty Sheriff’s Office following a Nov. 21 warrant for his arrest.
According to the Argus Leader, documents say the new arrest stems from an incident that took place March 3, but didn’t state the location in which it took place. Williamson was previously arrested and charged with attempted second-degree rape following an incident on Oct. 21 in which junior teammate Danny Rambo was also arrested and charged with second-degree rape. Both were released from Clay County Jail on Oct. 31 on bond. Williamson is now being held on a $50,025 bond.
Local organization distributes 3,500 diapers Lauren Soulek
Lauren.Soulek@coyotes.usd.edu
Vermillion families who struggle to afford diapers for their young children are getting the help they need through a new organization, The Evan Project. Ellie Pyles, a Vermillion resident, has taken the lead on a local diaper bank project to help struggling families close to home. Since starting the project in October, the organization has distributed 3,500 diapers. “Before my family moved here to Vermillion, we lived in Bloomington, IN, and there was something similar there,” Pyles said. “I just thought it was awesome.” According to the National Diaper Bank Network, diapers cost $70 to $80 per month, and babies need diapers six to 10 times a day. For struggling families, the cost of diapers can be a burden, but there are no direct government assistance programs that help provide diapers to low-income families. More than 300 NDBN member
diaper banks across the nation distribute about 200 million diapers to the 5.2 million children under three who live in poor or low-income families, according to NDBN. About 35 percent of Vermillion residents live below the poverty line, which is more than double the rate in the whole state of South Dakota, according to the Census Reporter.
The project
Pyles said when her first son was born, her husband was still in school and they were struggling financially, so the diaper bank in Bloomington was a big help. “I came here and there wasn’t anything comparable, and it had been kind of in the back of my head of something I wanted to do,” she said. So, Pyles decided to start The Evan Project, named after her late brother. See EVANS, Page A2
Condom dispensers were placed in North Complex last semester.
Rachel Newville I The Volante
Condoms update: Q&A with John Howe Devin Martin
Devin.Martin@coyotes.usd.edu
Condom dispensers were first placed in North Complex last semester. The Volante asked John Howe, associate dean of student services, about condoms in North Complex, their price and how often they’re replaced. Devin Martin: How many condoms were used this past semester at North Complex, Burgess/Norton? John Howe: I don’t know if there was ever an inventory count, to be honest with you. They were filled when they were empty. Sanford Health is our student health partner so I know most recently they have not been filled because there are specific programming going on in the halls with Sanford Heath. They are doing those programs first and then getting them filled then thereafter. DM: Do you know any more information about those said programs? JH: I do know that (Cindy Benzel) is working with two PAs from Sanford, and really it’s about sexual health and making good choices. DM: Do you know the costs to have the condoms in North
Complex? Does the university pay for them? Sanford Health? JH: We’ve always had them provided through Sanford Heath. The cost of the project was the cost of the installation of the condom dispensers themselves. If you have facilities, crew coming in, we’re paying for their time, effort and labor. But even the dispensers themselves were donated. DM: Who donated the condom dispensers? JH: I know we got them from Sanford Health. I don’t know where they came from initially. I’ve been to other institutions where they would have a bowl on a desk. It’s quite a public display then to grab. Even some have them on residence floors. I’ve had students tell me before that they used to be kept in the floor of the community kitchen. This is just a way where students if they’re going to make decisions, then they came make decisions that are going to be the most appropriate for them and the most healthy for them. DM: When are the condoms restocked? JH: The intent is to refill them. There are programmatic components going on right now with the PAs from a Sanford Heath related to sexual heath. The idea
is to restock them. Probably not this semester but at the beginning of the next. DM: Are there any more possible locations for the condom dispensers? JH: Not that I know of at this time. It doesn’t mean it is in the realm of possibility. Right now there are not any discussions to move or increase the numbers at this point in time. DM: If there were to be more condom dispensers around campus, who would be in charge of deciding the location? JH: There’s a student heath advisory board. I would imagine that would be a component to discuss and to provide recommendations. That’s what got this project going. DM: When did the concept of condom dispensers arise? JH: The concept came to play because when the student health advisory board was coming together there were reports for our county and surrounding counties (of) a spike of sexually transmitted diseases. That is what prompted that discussion. It is not to promote sex per say, but to promote sexual health if students are going to have sexual activity we want them to be safe as possible.