Last Tuesday, the University hosted its first Community Conversation of the school year, discussing the Safety Alert sent out by Public Safety on September 1st. This alert addressed the report of sexual assault on campus and functioned as a compliance responsibility of campus Public Safety.

“Public Safety will send out a Safety Alert to ensure it reaches every member of the community,” David Tedjeske, Chief of Public Safety, said. “Hosting these Community Conversations is another way that we stay committed to prevention education initiatives and work to safeguard students.”

Reaching the entire University is crucial for these Community Conversations, which are tools the University implements to work through important topics as they pertain to campus. They can be requested by students to be hosted, but in this case, Villanova partners proactively put on the event. Recognizing that students had recently arrived on campus, the hosts of the event worked to start the conversation in a safe space for all University members.

“It can be very jolting to see that Safety Alert two weeks into your school year, but these proactive talks exist to reassure the community and acknowledge these difficult conversations,” Ryan Rost, the University’s Title IX coordinator, said.

Students that attended this past Tuesday’s event learned that Safety Alerts are a requisite that Public Safety sends out, but that follow-up conversations only exist to facilitate a culture of openness and education on campus. The hosts of the event hope that the conversations they had in the Connelly Center this past Tuesday have the power to trickle out into other aspects of campus life; having informal dialogue with one’s peers will help the safe space expand to the entire campus. The Title IX office highlights that, the more spaces that can be provided to promote these conversations, the better the campus nature surrounding influential conversations will become.

The hosts of Tuesday’s conversation were the University’s Title XI coordinator and the Chief of Public Safety, who have both facilitated on-campus talks like one in the past. These Community Conversations don’t only address Safety Alerts, but also have training and outreach efforts, which in the last academic year were hosted 64 times, with over 4,300 community members attending. Programs put on through the community include: “Moments that Matter,” “Where is the Love? Bystander Intervention Training,” “One Love Escalation Workshop,” “Bystander Moment” film and discussion, “Trauma-Informed Response to Sexual Misconduct” and “Understanding, Preventing and Responding to Sexual Misconduct.”

While Villanova puts on copious informational events, student-led initiatives also work to bring together the student body, and focus on significant topics as well.  POWER (Peers Offering Wellness Education & Resources), SAPA (Sexual Assault Prevention and Awareness (Instagram: villanovasapa)) and Survivors Supporting Survivors, to name a few. All students are encouraged by these program leaders to take initiative and start conversations that they want to hear and partake in. 

To report a sexual assault or an act of sexual misconduct, call Public Safety at 610-519-5800, Rost at 610-519-8805 or a Deputy Title IX Coordinator.

To get in contact with those hosting the University’s self-defense course, email the Deputy Chief of Police, Debora Patch, at [email protected]. 

To gain any more information on reporting, protocol or outreach on campus, contact tRost at [email protected]. Support resources can be reached through Sexual Assault Resource Coordinator (SARC) at 484-343-6028, or by viewing the University’s sexual assault website at www.villanova.edu/sexualassault, which includes information on Delaware County Victim Assistance Center, University Counseling Center and UWill telehealth counseling.