For Immediate Release

Contact: John M. Martino
Phone Number:  (215) 895-1186
Date: 12/15/03

USP Joins Consortium with Drexel and Penn

In an effort to maintain the safety of its campus community, University of the Sciences in Philadelphia has joined a consortium with the University of Pennsylvania and Drexel University. In cooperation with community-based partners, the three universities have developed the Campus Community Consortium to reduce violent crimes against women in the University City section of Philadelphia. The consortium will be funded with a grant from the Department of Justice, as part of its Grants to Reduce Violent Crimes Against Women on Campus Program.

The Campus Community Consortium will enable the three universities to develop a comprehensive, coordinated response to violence against women on campus. The Consortium’s goals are to develop and strengthen victim/survivor services, to strengthen effective security and investigative strategies to combat violent crimes against women, and to promote awareness and prevention through training and outreach programs.

The Consortium will also include three nonprofit, nongovernmental victim services agencies: Women Against Abuse, The Women’s Law Project and Women Organized Against Rape, as well as the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office and the Philadelphia Police Department, Special Victims Unit.

The Department of Justice has provided financial resources for the Consortium through a grant of $400,000 for a period of two years. The Grants to Reduce Violent Crimes Against Women on Campus Program was authorized by the Higher Education Amendments of 1998 and reauthorized by the Violence Against Women Act of 2000. It provides a unique opportunity for institutions of higher education to establish multidisciplinary consortia to combat violent crimes against women on campuses. These comprehensive efforts are designed to enhance victim services, implement prevention and education programs, and develop and strengthen security and investigation strategies in order to prevent and respond to domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking crimes on campuses.

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