UB recognized for sexual assault prevention program

The Sexual Violence Prevention Program of Wellness Education Services has been recognized nationally by the Campus Prevention Network, a nationwide initiative dedicated to creating safer, healthier campus communities.

UB is one of five recipients of the 2017 Prevention Excellence Award for outstanding achievements in sexual assault prevention. Other winners are Dartmouth College, American University, Juniata College and Vanderbilt University.

UB will receive the award in a special ceremony at 11:30 a.m. Oct. 20 in 210 Student Union, North Campus. Presenting the award will be Campus Prevention Network representatives Holly Rider-Milkovich, senior director of prevention education, and Rob Buelow, vice president of prevention education.

Accepting for UB will be A. Scott Weber, vice president for student life; Sherri L. Darrow, director of Wellness Education Services; and Anna Sotelo-Peryea, violence prevention coordinator who directs UB’s Sexual Violence Prevention Program.

Weber says the Prevention Excellence Award “validates the hard work our Student Life staff and campus community have invested in this important initiative.”

“It is an honor to be recognized as a national leader in the education of sexual violence prevention,” Weber says, “and I’d like to thank the Campus Prevention Network and EVERFI,” the educational technology company that founded the network.

Darrow notes the award is particularly special because schools do not compete against each other for the award. “Each school commits to doing the best work possible in the core areas of institutionalization, critical processes and policies, and programming, and to measure themselves against the highest standards in the field,” Darrow says.

Of the 89 colleges and universities that have completed the national Sexual Assault Diagnostic Inventory — a comprehensive, research-based assessment of prevention programs and practices on their campuses — fewer than 10 percent earned the distinction of being a PEA award honoree, she says, adding that UB’s score ranked in the top 6 percent of schools in sexual violence prevention.

UB’s results in the Sexual Assault Diagnostic Inventory will be reviewed as part of a prevention summit being held later on Oct. 20 for campus stakeholders that also includes a working strategic-planning session facilitated by Rider-Milkovich and Beulow.

The Campus Prevention Network is a nationwide initiative of more than 1,700 institutions dedicated to creating safer, healthier campus communities, according to the network’s website. Member institutions pledge to adopt the highest standards of prevention related to sexual assault and alcohol abuse, and to assess the progress of their efforts through services assessing the institution’s current prevention policies and programs.