2023-2024 MCVP Annual-Report

MISSION

The McCluskey Center for Violence Prevention at the University of Utah engages in research and education on sexual violence among college students, particularly as it affects students from historically minoritized backgrounds, including students of color, queer and trans students, and students with disabilities. The center seeks to bridge the gap between research and education by bringing together researchers, prevention educators, and students to focus on scholarship and best practices for understanding, intervening in, and preventing sexual violence. In carrying out this mission, the center’s work benefits students of all backgrounds and demographics.

A NOTE FROM THE DIRECTOR

Another great year in the books for the MCVP! Thank you to all of you for your contributions to another year of shifting campus culture related to violence prevention! We continue to work toward a world free of violence by working on our little part of the puzzle: dating and sexual violence among college students. As you will see in this report, our staff have been consistently busy with education and research pursuits, and this year is no exception. I am proud of the work that we have done.

We enhanced the research mission of the Center this year by adding a post-doctoral fellow, Dr. Nadeeka Karunaratne, who co-led three research teams focused on interrupting harm. We also added a research affiliates program, including people from across the country on these research teams. We continued to engage campus community members through our educational workshops, and our student staff continued working on their action projects. We maintained a very active blog and podcast series this year, thanks to the wisdom and insight of our students.

As we continue advancing our mission of engaging in research and education focused on interrupting harm, we are grateful to be a part of the University of Utah community. Faculty, staff, and students support our work by engaging in their own learning about sexual violence prevention and seeking to improve the communities of which they are a part and sharing educational opportunities with others. Many people express their support of our work through financial contributions, for which we are incredibly grateful. We have expanded our research endeavors largely as a result of these generous contributions. We are grateful for all of your support—financial and otherwise—and look forward to continuing to engage with each of you as we move forward.

Chris Linder, Director of the MCVP

BY THE NUMBERS

EDUCATION

1,838

# of People Reached

39

# of Workshops facilitated

What is Harm

Most requested workshop for students

Beyond Mandatory Reporting

Most requested workshop for staff

2

MCVP STAFF 2023-24

Chris Linder –Director

Allie MooreGraduate Assistant

Whitney HillsAssociate Director of Education

Jarad Ringer –Associate Director of Violence Prevention & Mental Health Counseling

Nadeeka Karunaratne –Postdoctoral Research Associate

Addie Huff –Student Staff

Stacy Jenkins –Office Support Coordinator

Brenda Medina Payan –Student Staff

PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS

Education

WORKSHOPS

An essential part of the McCluskey Center’s mission is education, which we in part achieve by engaging the campus community in ongoing learning through the workshops we offer. We provided 39 workshops across campus this year and aim to exponentially increase this number in coming years. We facilitate these workshops for student organizations, staff development, and guest lectures in classes. Our workshops are interactive and tailored to the needs of each unique group. We will collaborate with each team to create a program that meets their specific requirements, goals, and needs.

• For example, this year, our director, Chris Linder, provided the workshop Understanding the impact of Clery timely warnings on a campus community to the Pac-12 Clery Compliance Officers.

• Some anonymous testimonials from a few students who have attended our workshops:

n Very informative; everyone felt free to share their thoughts.

n Very good questions; difficult, but they’re so good to talk about.

n I learned that making people aware can be very powerful in preventing assault and that nonphysical abuse is just as abusive as physical abuse. Schedule or learn more about our workshops here or by using the QR code below!

ACTION PROJECTS

Another way the McCluskey Center for Violence Prevention engages education is through Action projects such as our blog and poster campaigns.

• The MCVP’s blog serves as a platform for student projects centered on education and prevention. Through these posts, students share valuable information, personal narratives, and actionable advice, while critically exploring issues related to sexual violence and harm. Each entry is grounded in a framework of prevention, aiming to educate and foster awareness to help prevent such harm.

• Our 2023 “You Might Be Causing Harm If…” campaign goal was to bring attention to behaviors that have been normalized yet actually cause harm. The staff, with the students taking the lead, identified eight behaviors that could be harmful and then wrote posts about their topic, describing how it is harmful. These posts are linked on the posters through a QR code. While these behaviors may seem insignificant, they can lead to behaviors that push other people’s boundaries and lead to bigger acts of harm.

CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS

An additional way the McCluskey Center engages educational pursuits is by presenting at conferences across the country. Engaging in conferences allows the center to showcase its work, exchange ideas with colleagues, and stay updated on the latest strategies to interrupt harm nationwide. These interactions not only enhance the center’s visibility and credibility but also foster collaborations and partnerships that aid in both prevention education and research opportunities.

• Part of the Solution: Harnessing the Power of Undergraduate Students to End Sexual Violence. Annual NASPA Conference, Seattle, WA. 2024.

• Exploring the Impact of Clery Sexual Assault Warnings on a Campus Community. Annual Conference of the Association for the Study of Higher Education, Minneapolis, MN. 2023.

• Student Support Staff Experiences of Institutional Betrayal After a Sexual Assault Timely Warning National Women’s Studies Association Conference, Baltimore, MD. 2023.

• Shifting the Narrative: Primary Prevention with the McCluskey Center for Violence Prevention. Utah Sexual Violence Conference, Salt Lake City, UT. 2023.

• Center Director Chris Linder also provided an additional six research talks across the country during the 202324 academic year. Topics of her presentations included Examining history and power to address sexual violence among college students and Addressing sexual violence on campus: What’s my role?

STUDENT STAFF ACTION PROJECTS

ADDIE HUFF (she/her) | Addie is a student staff with the MCVP majoring in psychology and minoring in health education. Addie focused on the ways that lack of access to sex education that is inclusive to consent and lack of pleasure-based education can lead to sexual violence. Addie wrote a blog about her personal experience with Utah-based sex education, Beyond the Birds and the Bees. Using her optimistic attitude and creative approach to ending sexual violence, Addie also contributed to student staff TikToks. During Addie’s first year with the MCVP she learned to think beyond what is normal and how to become comfortable with the uncomfortable.

BRENDA PAYAN MEDINA (she/her)| Brenda spent two years with the MCVP as a student staff member where she has learned that our smaller interactions with each other are what develop strong communities that can lead to ending harm. While at the MCVP, Brenda explored a creative approach to ending sexual violence through the creation of zines! Brenda’s zines focused on the reality that we are all capable of causing harm and also repairing harm.

ELLIE TRAN (she/her) | Ellie completed her first year as a student staff member at the MCVP while majoring in political science. During her first year at the MCVP, Ellie showed up with passion and brilliance to make complex theory understandable. Ellie was able to use these skill sets to create a TikTok page to change the narrative around sexual violence for college students. During her time at the MCVP, Ellie learned that to end sexual violence we all need to be willing to learn and make small changes—there is not ONE big thing that will end sexual violence.

JOSIE VIDELA (she/her) | Josie was part of MCVP student staff for just this year and is moving on to housing! Josie used her educational background of gender studies and criminology to create a survey to better understand how college students experience sexual harm on dating apps. Based on student responses to the survey, Josie collaborated with staff to create an educational series for Instagram. During her time at the MCVP Josie unlearned the binary of harmful behaviors, realizing that we all can both cause harm and experience harm.

LAUREN RIVES (she/her) | Lauren worked as student staff in the MCVP for two years and this year graduated with a bachelor’s in psychology and gender studies. Lauren’s action projects focused on the nuances of harmful behavior and consensual relationships. Lauren worked in community with student groups and her student government position to change the narratives around sexual violence. Lauren also created a form where students could anonymously ask questions about harmful behavior. During her time in the MCVP, Lauren learned that to end sexual violence you will have to make mistakes along the way, but we have to do things differently to make change!

JILLY MCBANE (she/her) | Jilly completed her second year with the MCVP and will join us for her third and final year as student staff. This year Jilly continued to learn how to talk to her peers about sexual violence! She did just that through her podcast, The New Consent Narrative and facilitated blog publishing of her peers work on MCVP’s The Conversation Blog.

TILLIE POWELL (she/her) | Tillie has worked with the MCVP for two years as student staff and has graduated with a bachelor’s degree in health & kinesiology with an emphasis in community engagement. Tillie will join us next year as our education graduate assistant while she pursues a graduate degree in social work. Tillie engaged the larger campus community through educational efforts about sexual violence prevention through book clubs and the creation of workshops that focused on repairing harm.

TERRY KIM (she/her) | Terry worked with the MCVP as student staff for her senior year, graduating with a degree in psychology & ethnic studies, and is now pursuing graduate studies. Terry emphasized the importance of accountability in ending harm and that in order to make changes we have to reflect on our behaviors and make changes based on knowledge we have gained. Terry applied what she learned in the MCVP through the creation of engagement activities for educational workshops and MCVP blog posts on accountability.

RESEARCH

Faculty and staff at the McCluskey Center engage in research about sexual violence among college students, convening multidisciplinary research teams of students, staff, and faculty. The center’s research projects specifically focus on investigating issues that will help administrators, student groups, and other partners understand peer culture on college campuses, the people who cause harm, harmful behaviors, and how to prevent sexual violence. Research conducted through the MCVP is rooted in power-conscious frameworks and critical methods, with the aim of transforming research to practice. Across all projects and teams, the MCVP has a commitment to including practitioners throughout the research process.

CURRENT STUDIES

This year we launched three national multidisciplinary research teams to critically examine issues of sexual violence in higher education. Through these three research projects, we aim to affect change in practice and scholarship on interrupting harm among college students. Each team intentionally includes practitioners, graduate students, and faculty, and is led by MCVP’s Dr. Nadeeka Karunaratne, postdoctoral research associate, and Dr. Chris Linder, center director.

Survivor Perceptions of Accountability, Justice, and Healing

Team members: Robert Babcock, Marigold Hudock, Grace Poon Ghaffari, Karla Aguilar Marquez, and Robin Berman

The purpose of this study is to understand how college student survivors of color envision justice, healing, accountability, and fairness in the context of sexual violence. This year, we conceptualized the project, received IRB approval, and began recruitment and interviews with students at one institution. We planned to continue recruiting students from two other institutions in fall 2024. After each participant engages in

an individual interview, we will bring participants from each institution together for a dreaming circle (like a focus group).

Understanding the Experiences of Respondent Services Professionals

Team members: Julia Broussard, April Pavelka, Megan Karbley, Grace Nickels, Libna Noor, Adrianne Jackson, and Jarad Ringer

The purpose of this study is to better understand how professionals working with respondents experience and conceptualize their work. We spent this year conceptualizing the study and receiving IRB approval. After some challenges with recruiting student respondents for a previous iteration of this study, we expanded our project to interviewing respondent services professionals on campuses across the country. Interviews took place in summer 2024 and analysis was set to occur in fall 2024.

Exploring College Students’ Learning about Dating and Sexual Relationships

Team members: Swati Sah, Chris Toutain, Clara Wellons, Jacquelyn Mesenbrink, Anne Dufault, Whitney Hills

The purpose of this study is to gain insight into what information students receive about dating and sexual relationships prior to and during college and how and where they get this information. This year we completed a pilot study with 6 student participants, which informed the creation of our interview protocols and journal prompts for the full study that launched in summer 2024. Students from 3-4 institutions will participate in individual interviews, complete 8 weekly journal entries during the Fall 2024 term, and engage in a follow-up focus group or interview.

PUBLISHED WORKS

In addition to our ongoing research initiatives, the MCVP’s research teams also published three scholarly articles!

SCHOLARLY ARTICLES

• Exploring the Impact of Clery Sexual Assault Warnings on a Campus Community. Journal of Higher Education You can access the article here

• Using Epistemic Injustice to Examine the Scholarship About Sexual Violence Among Minoritized Students. Violence Against Women. Advanced online publication. You can access the article here

• Words Matter: How College Students Use and Understand Terms Related to Intimate Partner, Dating, and Sexual Violence. Journal of College Student Development, 65(1), 1-17. You can access the article here

DONORS

Gift of $10,000 or more

Marriott Daughters Foundation

Ruth E. Bamberger and John E. Bamberger Memorial Foundation

Gift of $5,000 or more

Gregory Paul Stadler

Gift of $100 - $1,000

Richard Smartt

Gift of $1 - $99

Whitney Marie Norton

Lyle S. Wetzel

Tawnja Stout Martin

Kirsten Marie Dorius

We extend our deepest gratitude to our donors for their generous support over the past year. Donors’ unwavering commitment to our mission has been instrumental in advancing our violence prevention efforts. Because of their contributions, we have been able to make significant strides in creating a safer campus community through providing prevention education and ongoing research initiatives. Their belief in our work and dedication to positive change inspire us every day. We thank our donors for being a crucial part of our mission at MCVP. Together, we are building a future where every individual can thrive in safety and peace.