SEPTEMBER 30, 2022 — Editor’s note: The following message was sent via email today from President Taylor Eighmy and Senior Vice Provost for Student Affairs and Dean of Students LT Robinson to all faculty, staff and students:
October is Domestic Violence Awareness month and an opportune time to reaffirm UTSA’s zero-tolerance environment for sexual assault and misconduct. We’re writing to share important information all Roadrunners should know, and the many ways you can get involved in our efforts to prevent domestic violence.
Educate Yourself: Prevention Programming
This October, UTSA is rolling out several events and learning opportunities regarding consent, sexual violence prevention, bystander intervention and healthy relationships. We hope you will take advantage of these programs to expand your personal toolkit.
Of special note, we hope you’ll join us for Take Back the Night at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, October 18, in the Sombrilla Plaza for a night of music, poetry and a march around campus. Part of our annual Homecoming festivities, this event is a time for our community to gather in solidarity, show support for survivors and advocate to end violence.
Looking ahead, we are proud to report that UTSA recently received a three-year, $300,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) for programming aimed at reducing incidents of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault and stalking among college-aged students. The grant will enable us to expand our existing victim advocacy efforts and to develop new programs to prevent sexual violence.
Additionally, on Saturday, November 12, we will mark UTSA’s annual #SetTheExpectation football game in partnership with Brenda Tracy, sexual assault survivor and founder of the national Set The Expectation campaign. We are proud of the fact that UTSA was the first university in the nation to implement the Tracy Rule, the most comprehensive Serious Misconduct rule in the NCAA.
Green Dot Bystander Intervention Training
Green Dot is a nationally recognized anti-violence initiative aimed at decreasing and preventing the occurrence of power-based personal violence. Sign up now to participate in a Green Dot training on Friday, October 7 at 1 p.m.
Advocacy Services in the PEACE Center
UTSA offers a variety of advocacy resources to foster the wellbeing of students in line with the U.S. Department of Education’s Title IX requirements. A student advocate in our PEACE Center is available to assist students who have been victims of sexual violence, and can provide crisis intervention, safety planning, reporting option education and emotional support. Students do not need to report incidents to authorities in order to receive assistance from the student advocate, and all meetings and services are confidential. Staff in Student Assistance Services serve as the respondent advocate in compliance with Title IX regulations.
How to Report and Find Support
UTSA has multiple options for Roadrunners wishing to report acts of sexual violence or misconduct. These include:
In addition, students may visit the student advocate for support.
As an important reminder, faculty and staff are required to report any disclosure of sexual violence to the Title IX coordinator. Therefore, it is important to tell students about your obligation to report prior to hearing a disclosure. We encourage you to review the resources available on the Equal Opportunity Services website and familiarize yourself with referral options on the Safe Campus website.
Get Involved
We are proud to be counted as an institution dedicated to the complex work of combating sexual violence, and value UTSA’s participation in the Culture of Respect. These efforts are led by a Campus Leadership Team, and they are currently recruiting new members. If you are interested in promoting campus-wide sexual violence prevention, let us know.
We are deeply grateful for the dedication and focus that our entire university commits to this vital work, and we hope to see you at some of our upcoming awareness month events.
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Come celebrate the doctoral students graduating this commencement season.
H-E-B Student Union Ballrooms, UTSA Main CampusCelebrate the accomplishments of the graduates of the College for Health, Community and Policy, College of Liberal and Fine Arts and College of Sciences.
Alamodome, 100 Montana St, San Antonio, TX 78203Celebrate the accomplishments of the graduates of the Carlos Alvarez College of Business, College of Education and Human Development, Margie and Bill Klesse College of Engineering and Integrated Design and University College.
Alamodome, 100 Montana St, San Antonio, TX 78203First Friday Stargazing gives anyone free access to the night sky using university telescopes and teaching equipment. Weather permitting, experienced astronomers will provide a handful of telescopes of varying designs, give training on how each operates, and point to various astronomical objects that may appear in the sky for that given time of the year. If you have a telescope and do not know how to operate it, feel free to bring it and get instructions on its use.
4th Floor of Flawn Science Building, Main CampusThe University of Texas at San Antonio is dedicated to the advancement of knowledge through research and discovery, teaching and learning, community engagement and public service. As an institution of access and excellence, UTSA embraces multicultural traditions and serves as a center for intellectual and creative resources as well as a catalyst for socioeconomic development and the commercialization of intellectual property - for Texas, the nation and the world.
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We encourage an environment of dialogue and discovery, where integrity, excellence, inclusiveness, respect, collaboration and innovation are fostered.
UTSA is a proud Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI) as designated by the U.S. Department of Education.
The University of Texas at San Antonio, a Hispanic Serving Institution situated in a global city that has been a crossroads of peoples and cultures for centuries, values diversity and inclusion in all aspects of university life. As an institution expressly founded to advance the education of Mexican Americans and other underserved communities, our university is committed to ending generations of discrimination and inequity. UTSA, a premier public research university, fosters academic excellence through a community of dialogue, discovery and innovation that embraces the uniqueness of each voice.
