On Sept. 6, Alysha Warren started work at Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) as the University’s first Sexual Assault Resource Coordinator. In this position, she will counsel students dealing with sexual assault and help coordinate outreach and education programs for the larger University community.
“I think [this position] is a very good idea as it means Alysha is not only a resource coordinator and not only an educator, but also a therapist and a clinician,” said CAPS Director Jennifer D’Andrea. “She will be providing both education, outreach, consultation and direct clinical services. So she’ll be doing individual therapy and group therapy as well.”
The Sexual Assault Task Force recommended at the end of the past academic year that this position be created at the University. Though a student’s allegations of sexual assault last year caused many to question why the University did not already have a resource dedicated to this issue, Director of the Davison Health Center Joyce Walter said that this decision had been discussed for some time.
“This was a long time coming,” Walter said. “In prior years it’s been something we had a number of students working on. President Roth determined that there were enough conversations by many different people that it would be important to see what the status of campus was in order to see how we worked with students who reported sexual violence.”
As the Sexual Assault Resource Coordinator, Warren said she hopes to start sexual violence education and outreach events on campus. Given her recent arrival at the University, currently no official events have been organized. D’Andrea speculated that Warren would work with Director of WesWell Tanya Purdy on education and outreach programs. Warren said she hopes to be able to create a community that is active against all forms of sexual violence.
“So that means not just after a sexual assault has happened, but also there are lots of different attitudes that create a culture where sexual violence is permitted,” she said. “[I hope] to have a community that is actively engaged in not tolerating these things and to have people willing to engage in bystander intervention and to speak out against victim blaming, because statistics show that survivors are among us.”
Warren will also provide counseling services for any survivor of sexual violence. She will be available by appointment and during an urgent walk-in period, a new emergency program that CAPS started this year. She will also be one of several CAPS employees on 24 hour on-call rotation for students in crises. Given Warren’s professional experience, D’Andrea and Walter both believe that she will be helpful to individual victims.
“This is what she does; she’s passionate and dedicated to it and she has a very accessible quality,” D’Andrea said. “She’s young, enthusiastic, and I think students will find her accessible.”
Warren worked in a similar position at Salisbury University, and prior to that she worked as a therapist for the Washington, D.C. Rape Crisis Center.
“Alysha basically did this job at Salisbury,” D’Andrea said. “She was doing clinical work for students affected by sexual violence, education, and outreach. She’s really committed to the work and it’s very clear that this is her passion and that she has very much focused and specialized her experience in this area.”
After the University announced the position of Sexual Assault Resource Coordinator, Warren applied for the job in May. She met with students and faculty for interviews and accepted the job in July.
“I was really attracted to this position as it’s one of my passions and I’ve been working on this for the past twelve years in some capacity, whether as a volunteer, advocate, or as a therapist,” Warren said. “In my previous positions, I’ve worked with sexual violence and students, so I wanted to continue that work and was interested in working on a smaller campus.”
Warren only started work at the University this past week, but many are optimistic about her appointment in the newly created position.
“I am thrilled that Wesleyan has created this new position,” wrote Former Sexual Assault Response Team Intern Eliza Gordon ’11 in an email to The Argus. “On the Sexual Violence Task Force, we decided this was an important recommendation to make for the University to be able to fully support survivors of sexual assault in our community. I think it is a great step forward.”