Circle UP
Circle UP represents both a physical space as well as a series of prevention programs and interventions that were conceived out of the Safe Space Coalition movement, birthed as a response to student-led sexual assault concerns. A grant was secured* to provide culturally specific sexual assault prevention and intervention services for our students, as well as a safe space to connect. This space will provide the opportunity to obtain the tools for empowerment by treatment professionals, faculty, survivors and allies to the movement. The result will promote healing, education, advocacy, and change.
Circle UP is located in the Hope House which currently houses DSU Downtown’s Food Bank and Community Wellness Ambassadors at 34 N. State Street, Dover. The professionals, students, faculty, survivors and allies, or the “cohort,” will identify research-driven interventions and strategies that will be impactful to the student community at Delaware State, as well as to the community at large.
Goal
The main goal of the program is to promote healing, education, advocacy, and change. Programmatically, Circle UP will engage students to identify the programs and support they need to ensure a safe community and the tools to empower student researchers and advocates, while allowing students access to treatment interventions for self-care. The focus is primary prevention, reducing risk, safety practices, perpetrator consequences/equity, and survivor wholeness.
Programs
Students who have experienced sexual assault will have access to a panel of private licensed therapists. These services will be free of charge for the student and can be initiated through the contact information below. Counseling services will be provided by appointment, face-to-face or virtually. This service is in addition to and not a substitution for the Counseling Center on the main campus.
Various forums and prevention programs are planned and began in November 2023 with the first sessions eliciting from students the programs they would like to see. Starting in January 2024, a series of programs will begin including various self-care initaitives, a bystander program, as well as various other evidenced-based programs. These will be published through eNews, the DSU HUB, and various other venues. Please use the contact information below for further information.
Further Reading
- Statistics on campus sexual violence
- Reclaim the Red Zone, Battered Women’s Justice Project (the part of the semester that is most dangerous for sexual assault)
- Culture of Respect: Prevention Programming Matrix
- Levels of Evidence
Members
- Dr. Gwendolyn Scott-Jones, Dean, Wesley College of Health and Behavioral Sciences
- Dr. Eleanor M. Kiesel, Associate Dean, WCHBS, Primary Investigator
- Ms. Kim Graham, Director, Trauma Academy, Project Director, Circle UP
- Ms. Taja Jones, Project Coordinator, Circle UP
Contact
Ms. Taja Jones, Project Coordinator
Circleup [at] desu.edu
302.484.0831
*This project was supported by Building the Capacity of Black Programs Initiative, supported by Grant Number 90EV0555-01-00 from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed by DSU Circle UP are those of the contributors and do not necessarily represent the official position or policies of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.