Spring Hill College is now a part of the Reduce Domestic Violence, Dating Violence, Sexual Assault and Stalking on Campus Program as of this October. Acceptance to this program will give the college grants to help provide Sexual Assault resources, which is something that the school had been lacking for the past two years. 

It was mid-January 2020 when over 300 students stood in LeBlanc with the lights off and glow bracelets around their wrists. They were attending the second Shed Light On It, an event that discusses the prevalence of sexual assault on Spring Hill College’s campus, and what the badger community can do better to lower the numbers. Lauryn Bass, member of SHC’s Class of 2020, remembers looking out into the crowd as she asked the them to raise their hands if they felt safe on Spring Hill’s campus: “When I saw the lack of glowing bands raised in the air, I was disappointed, but not surprised,” said Bass. “It was abundantly clear that students did not feel the policies and procedures currently in place were enough to keep students safe.” 

Bass conducted a survey after the event asking the student body what they wanted to see more of, “resources,” Bass replied. “The student body wants more resources from the school.” From the survey, many of the responses centered around a lack of places to turn to for help. Although they noted Res Life as a possible resource a response deemed this “insufficient.” Many of the responses called for more options and educational programs. 

This October, the student body got its wish. It was announced that Spring Hill would be the recipient of a grant focused on providing services and resources to address sexual assault on campus and support those who have lived through it. Vice President of Student Affairs spoke on the grant that they just received, “The grant requires the hiring of a Program Coordinator which will be significant for our campus to help manage our programmatic and victim service efforts. This position will be managed out of the counseling center.” 

Abel also mentioned that the grant would increase educational programs for students and help the school pursue “safety enhancements on campus including a mobile phone app that acts as a blue light phone on your phone with one touch.” Additionally, the grant also requires Spring Hill to partner with a “community criminal justice partner and victim services partner to help create an integrated approach to prevention and victim response.” Abel said that Spring Hill will be pairing with the Mobile County District Attorney’s Office and Lifelines to help with these efforts. 

While Abel is excited for all the safety enhancements that the grant will allow he is “hoping to see greater prevention efforts on campus and to be able to provide a diverse array of programs on the four focal points of the grants.” He believes that education is one of the most critical parts to prevention. “I believe our efforts will be greatly enhanced through this grant,” and he hopes that it will also enable Spring Hill to provide adequate support to student victims in a much more comprehensive way.