April is Sexual Assult Awareness Month—a fact which many students at Connecticut College know thanks primarily to Darcie Folsom’s work as the Coordinator of Sexual Violence Education and Advocacy on campus.
Before this position had existed at Conn, most of the work surrounding sexual violence education and advocacy was left to Director of Student Wellness CC Curtiss, who educates students on drug and alcohol consumption. Curtiss had limited time and resources but was still able to host Take Back the Night and work with students for their needs concerning issues of sexual violence.
However, nearly three years ago the college received an almost $300,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office on Violence Against Women that enabled the school to temporarily fund the position of coordinator for sexual violence education and advocacy. The result has been a change in the discourse at Connecticut College about sexual education and awareness of issues like sexual violence.
Thanks to the grant, Folsom has been able to instate the highly successful and growing Green Dot program, SafetyNet and the Think S.A.F.E. program. These programs promote proactive prevention, education and raising awareness in the Conn community.
Folsom believes that making these difficult subjects more approachable, helping students feel comfortable about them and raising awareness encourages students to be more likely to disclose their experiences and file reports. Furthermore, the programs empower students through the Green Dot workshop and by allowing them to create their own programming as a Think S.A.F.E. intern, causing more students to become proactive in preventing violence.
Folsom explains that many students have admitted to her that they did not realize they were in an unhealthy relationship until some form of Think SAFE Project programming (the overarching program which includes Green Dot and SafetyNet) along with informal conversations with Folsom helped them address those problems in their life. Her goal is to increase education, reduce stigma and to create an atmosphere of students openly talking about these issues.
According to Folsom, the Green Dot program began a year and a half ago and although there were only nine students in the first training, now there are almost 200 students who have undergone the six-hour program.
The first Green Dot participants at Conn were members of SGA, floor governors and members of Safety Net, but now it includes people from different clubs, sports and organizations on campus. The number of people in attendance at the sessions continues to grow as students become interested in learning how to be proactive in preventing domestic violence, sexual assault and stalking.
Folsom expressed the hope that when new students get involved with Safety Net, more entertaining and creative approaches to the issues will emerge. As an example, Folsom mentioned the discussion by Shannon Keating ’13 on domestic violence and stalking in Twilight which timed perfectly with the movie release, making it a very well-attended and informative event.
Because of Folsom’s support “students feel inspired to create their own thing. I value their input and let them run with their ideas.” Having an open environment allows for creativity, and along with the suggestions from someone with experience they are able to host a successful and educational event.
Moreover, students are reaching out to Folsom in order to raise awareness themselves. According to Folsom, “A lot of people thought I was the one to approach the hockey team for the Green Dot game, but the captain came to talk to me—they were the ones to take initiative. They were able to gather a lot of awareness from groups who might not have previously been informed.”
As part of the grant, Folsom has gone with different members of the campus community, ranging from deans to campus safety officers, to technical trainings every six months. She has been on the committee to change Conn’s policy for dealing with issues of domestic violence, sexual assault and stalking. This past year she was part of a stalking policy review committee and participated in creating a specific stalking policy – since stalking had previously fallen under a broader sexual harassment policy.
The technical trainings required for the grant have helped revise the schools policies and procedures, and even demonstrated how ahead progressive Conn’s policies are as compared to those at other schools.
However, the position of Coordinator of Sexual Violence Education and Advocacy is not fixed—it is supported by a three-year grant that will end in October. The college has reapplied for the grant and will find out in the fall if they will receive it again. Because the grant is not permanent, many people have advocated to the Priorities, Planning and Budget Committee for the coordinator position to be made permanent, a proposal currently being discussed by the Committee.
The Priorities, Planning and Budget Committee (PPBC) advises the president of the college on how to spend the Above Current Level funding pool and is composed of 5 faculty members, 3 students, 2 staff members and representatives of senior administration.
Professor Stock, the faculty adviser to the men’s hockey team and the chair of the Priorities, Planning and Budget Committee explained the process.
“First, the finance office prepares and analyzes projected revenues and expenditures for the coming budget year to estimate the size of the cash pool (the above-current-level or “ACL” pool) that will support incremental spending. They further estimate financial projections for future years to determine how much recurring spending the pool will support. PPBC then goes to work allocating the available pool in response to spending requests from the college community. The committee is advisory to the president of the college on how the funds will be committed ultimately. While anyone in the community can submit requests through the various vice presidents, the pool is not typically of sufficient size to fund fully all requests. Further, requests for recurring money, such as will be necessary to make Darcie’s position permanent, can be funded only when the finance office and the committee are comfortable that on-going money will be available in future years. So, recurring requests must pass an additional hurdle, important as they might be, to affect the college in a permanent way.”
“Darcie’s position is one of the many requests we’ve seen go through the ACL process,” Stock says. “Still, my sense is that PPBC recognizes the broad support for the position within the college community.”
Stock emphasized that all deliberations of the committee remain confidential.
Students who have worked with Folsom recognize her work as an indispensable addition to the Conn community.
Alia Roth ’14 feels that “throughout my year as an intern [working with Folsom], people have become much more aware and supportive of our work. The events have become more popular and these issues are finally being talked about in a constructive way that really impacts our campus. Darcie has brought awareness, education and support to our community regarding these issues in ways that no one else can. She is a friendly face to all, never passing a judgment on anyone which allows students to feel comfortable working with her, and confiding in her… Darcie is an activist, an educator and a friend to all; she has easily become one of the most influential people in my time at Connecticut College thus far.”
Keating expressed that her “experience at Connecticut College would not have been the same without Darcie. Even though she deals with one of the toughest and most horrible subjects, she brightens campus every day with her wonderful attitude and spirit. I look at the world differently because of her knowledge, passion and kindness. Her work in challenging sexual assault on this campus, head on, is indispensable.”
Many other students, as well as faculty and staff, who understand how the Think S.A.F.E. Program and Folsom’s personal work have affected the college hope that the PPBC can find a way to make her position permanent. •
Darcie is an incredible resource for Connecticut College and her trainings have helped me greatly when dealing with gender based issues at home and in South Africa. I continue to lean on Darcie when I have questions and I can’t thank Darcie enough for making me an active and aware bystander!
Please make the Sexual Violence Education and Advocacy program an option for alumni funding!