Alabama State University News October 6, 2011 ASU Receives $300,000 Grant to Help Prevent Violence to Women Alabama State University has received a three-year, $300,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Justice, Office on Violence Against Women, to help combat violence against women. University officials announced during a press conference today that the grant will fund expanded services and programs to target and eliminate physical, emotional, economic and sexual abuse against women. The grant also will allow ASU to provide programs for students, as well as additional training for ASU counselors, police officers, and health care providers. Funds from the grant will be used to facilitate partnerships with community programs, including the Montgomery District Attorney's Office and the One Place Family Justice Center. ASU can reapply for the grant every three years. Carmen Douglas, vice president of Human Resources at ASU, said the University's Department of Public Safety and the office of Human Resources were instrumental in obtaining the grant. She said ASU's prime objective is to have a proactive response to violence against women. "We want to provide an opportunity to educate our police department, educate our students, educate our faculty and staff on doing things to prevent violence against women," Douglas said. Huey Thornton, chief of ASU's Police Department, said the grant will help to educate the University family on domestic violence as a major epidemic in American society. "We are very fortunate that violence against women is not a significant issue at Alabama State University," Thornton said. "However, given the fact that our campus community is comprised of thousands of females, with a large percentage engaged in dating relationships, we want to ensure that the University is proactive in preventing incidents of violence against women." Montgomery County District Attorney Ellen Brooks said the grant gives ASU an opportunity to be a shining example of all colleges and universities in the state of Alabama on how to have excellent planning, training and across-the-board policies and procedures in place to combat violence against women. "I believe this is crime prevention at its best," Brooks said. "We look forward to the next three years of working together." SANDRA M. PHOENIX Program Director HBCU Library Alliance sphoenix@hbculibraries.org<mailto:sphoenix@hbculibraries.org> www.hbculibraries.org<http://www.hbculibraries.org/> 404.592.4820 Skype:sandra.phoenix1 1438 West Peachtree Street NW Suite 200 Atlanta, GA 30309 Toll Free: 1.800.999.8558 (Lyrasis) Fax: 404.892.7879 www.lyrasis.org<http://www.lyrasis.org/> Honor the ancestors, honor the children.