Across the country, colleges and universities are grappling with how to better prevent sexual violence, support survivors, and build campus cultures rooted in respect and accountability. In Pennsylvania, the It’s On Us PA grant program is doing exactly that providing critical funding and support to institutions committed to making real, measurable change.
At its core, It’s On Us is more than a campaign. It is a call to action. It recognizes that preventing sexual violence is not the responsibility of one office, one policy, or one training it is a shared responsibility across entire campus communities.
In my full-time job, I work on a college campus who was just awarded one of the grants.
What Are It’s On Us Grants?
The It’s On Us PA grant program, supported by the Pennsylvania Department of Education, provides funding to colleges and universities to:
- Enhance sexual violence prevention programming
- Strengthen bystander intervention initiatives
- Improve institutional response systems
- Support survivor-centered resources
- Increase awareness and education across campus communities
These grants are intentionally designed to move campuses beyond compliance and into culture change.
Because compliance alone doesn’t prevent harm. People do.
Why These Grants Matter Now More Than Ever
Let’s be honest: students are navigating increasingly complex social environments. From dating violence to online harassment to the lingering impact of trauma, campuses must be equipped to respond in ways that are timely, trauma-informed, and effective.
That’s where It’s On Us funding becomes critical.
These grants allow institutions to:
1. Invest in Prevention, Not Just Reaction
Too often, resources are focused only after harm occurs. It’s On Us flips that model funding education, peer engagement, and early intervention strategies that stop violence before it starts.
2. Center Survivor Voices and Needs
Survivors deserve more than policies they deserve support systems that are accessible, compassionate, and responsive. These grants help build those systems.
3. Empower Students as Leaders
Bystander intervention programs, peer education, and student-led initiatives are some of the most powerful tools we have. When students are part of the solution, campus culture shifts.
4. Build Cross-Campus Collaboration
Real change happens when Title IX offices, student affairs, counseling centers, campus police, and student leaders work together. It’s On Us funding helps break down silos.
Shippensburg University: Turning Commitment Into Action
As a recipient of an It’s On Us grant, Shippensburg University is demonstrating a clear commitment to student safety, prevention, and accountability.
This isn’t just about receiving funding it’s about what we are doing with it.
At Shippensburg, this means:
- Expanding education around consent, healthy relationships, and bystander intervention
- Strengthening outreach so students know where and how to get support
- Enhancing training for faculty and staff to recognize and respond to concerns
- Creating programming that meets students where they are culturally, socially, and developmentally
Most importantly, it reflects a broader institutional message:
We see this issue. We take it seriously. And we are doing something about it.
Pennsylvania Is Leading the Way
It’s worth pausing to recognize the role the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is playing here.
By investing in It’s On Us grants, the state is sending a powerful message to students, families, and institutions alike:
Preventing sexual violence is a priority and campuses will be supported in doing this work the right way.
This kind of leadership matters. It creates consistency across institutions, encourages innovation, and reinforces that student safety is not optional it’s essential.
The Bigger Picture: Culture Change Takes All of Us
Programs like It’s On Us remind us that prevention is not a one-time training or a checkbox on a compliance list. It is ongoing, evolving, and deeply human work.
It lives in:
- The conversations students have with each other
- The way faculty respond to disclosures
- The policies institutions uphold and how they apply them
- The courage it takes to intervene, to report, to support
And ultimately, it lives in the belief that everyone deserves to feel safe in their educational environment.
A Feel-Good Truth Worth Holding Onto
In a field where we often focus on harm, accountability, and systemic failures, it’s important to also recognize progress.
The fact that programs like It’s On Us exist…
That states like Pennsylvania are funding this work…
And institutions like Shippensburg are stepping up…
That matters.
Because every training delivered, every student reached, every survivor supported that is change in motion.
And that’s something worth feeling good about.
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