Promoting Empowerment and Community Engagement
Violence Prevention
Promoting Empowerment and Community Engagement
Welcome to the Benedictine University PEACE (Promoting Empowerment and Community Engagement) Team page! The PEACE team began on campus in October 2016 when the University received the Violence Against Women Act Campus Grant from the Department of Justice, Office on Violence Against Women. Starting with a small core team of staff, we have expanded to include faculty and staff from across the University, as well as students and community partners. The responsibility of the PEACE team is to promote messages of violence prevention in connection with our University values and hallmarks, advise on policies and procedures that reflect best practices, and current legislation regarding incidents of gender-based violence (sexual assault, domestic violence, dating violence and stalking), and coordinate training and communication amongst Title IX, law enforcement, victim services and the larger Benedictine community.
The PEACE team launched this campaign on our campus in January 2018 when three student leaders approached staff to find out how they can get more involved to educate their fellow students about violence prevention and survivor support on campus. They organized a seminar to talk about consent, bystander intervention and survivor support; created a poster campaign; and helped direct our first It’s On Us video. This passion from students led to our Prevention Peer Educator program and now we share this video and campaign with all of our Freshmen students. It is grounded in our University mission and hallmarks that guide us to welcome all to campus, value every member of our community and show each other love by treating everyone on our campus with dignity and respect. It’s on ALL of us to prevent gender-based violence and create a safe and welcoming environment for everyone.
Find out more about how you can get involved in this national campaign.
All new freshmen and transfer students at Benedictine University complete a training called BenU Healthy Relationships: Eagles Step Up. This session provides a guide to build healthy relationships among each other, demonstrates how we practice our values by engaging in violence prevention and calls all of our students to be active bystanders.
All students are invited to participate in Bringing in the Bystander, a training by Soteria Solutions, a prevention workshop to create a community of responsibility.
Throughout the year, we host programming to promote healthy relationships, consent and bystander intervention with specific events taking place during Domestic Violence Awareness Month (October), Stalking Awareness Month (January) and Sexual Assault Awareness Month (April).
If you have experienced any form of gender-based violence (including sexual assault, domestic violence, dating violence, or stalking) there are resources that can help. Below are all of the Resources on and off campus, but we also have this Resource and Referral Guide to show what options survivors have for reporting and confidential support.
It is always your right to decide whether or not you report an incident(s) of gender-based violence to University Police or University Officials. Survivors or bystanders who report, in good faith, any of these incidents will NOT receive a sanction under the Student Code of Conduct as per the Good Samaritan Exemption. The safety of our students and community members is our top priority.
If someone comes to you to report an incident of gender based violence (sexual assault, domestic violence, dating violence, or stalking) it generally means that you are someone that they trust. How you respond to their disclosure can have a significant impact on how they heal and view future relationships. Benedictine University cares about every member of our community and has resources available to both you and the survivor.
Here are some tips to guide you as you support the survivor:
Lisle Campus
5700 College Rd. Lisle, IL 60532
(630) 829-6000
Mesa Campus
225 E. Main St. Mesa, AZ 85201
(602) 888-5500
