A Crisis Counselor Who Is Cross Trained In Law Enforcement Will Serve Both Ulster County College Campuses
KINGSTON, N.Y. – Ulster County Executive Mike Hein was joined by SUNY New Paltz President Donald Christian and SUNY Ulster President Alan Roberts to announce a new initiative to help combat sexual assault on college campuses. Utilizing funding awarded under New York State’s Enough Is Enough policy, the county has created a new multi-faceted position that will serve the approximately 11,200 students on both of Ulster County’s college campuses. The counselor, which will be independent from the colleges but present on campus, will serve as a certified rape crisis counselor, a first level of support for a victim who will assist throughout the legal process, a liaison to law enforcement agencies and an educator who will provide training to both students and administrators at annual orientation as well as throughout the year. The independent counselor will be within the Ulster County Crime Victims Assistance Program, a division of County government whose sole mission is to assist those individuals in their moments of greatest need. Ulster County is utilizing over $140,000 over two years from a New York State “Enough Is Enough” grant to fund the program.
Ulster County Executive Mike Hein
“The plain truth is that even one campus sexual assault is too many and Ulster County stands united in our intolerance of sexual assaults anywhere in our community. Our country’s future is our youth and our students, and we must do whatever we can to protect them,” said County Executive Mike Hein. “This new program is an important first step that will provide victims with an independent resource they can feel comfortable going to and they will have confidence that their voice will be heard and all appropriate actions are taken. We are tremendously fortunate in Ulster County to have two exceptional educational institutions in our community, and the fact that both President Christian and President Roberts joined me for this announcement speaks volumes to their commitment to their respective campuses and the safety of their students and I want to thank them for their strong support. I also want to thank Governor Andrew Cuomo for not only providing the necessary funding but for focusing attention on the national problem of sexual violence on college campuses and launching the most aggressive policy in the nation to fight it - Enough Is Enough.”
Donald Christian, President of SUNY New Paltz
“We take seriously issues of sexual violence and its grave impact on students and the broader campus community,” said SUNY New Paltz President Donald P. Christian. “When SUNY developed its system-wide policy and practices to address sexual violence across its campuses, much of SUNY New Paltz’s policy language was adopted directly into system guidelines. Our comprehensive training for students and staff, and resources for victims helps to meet our collective responsibility to support those in need of assistance. I appreciate County Executive Hein and his team’s focus on this matter, and we look forward to working with them to provide additional local services for our community.”
Alan Roberts, President of SUNY Ulster
“SUNY Ulster has taken the Enough is Enough campaign seriously, training and informing all members of our campus community about procedures to prevent sexual assault and the on-campus and off-campus services available to assist sexual assault victims,” said SUNY Ulster President Alan Roberts. “We applaud the leadership and support from Governor Cuomo and the vision of County Executive Hein to provide us with additional resources and expertise to address an issue that impacts all sectors of our society.”
Under New York State’s “Enough Is Enough” law students will have a new Bill of Rights that must be distributed at orientation, colleges must have a comprehensive and consistent set of procedures and guidelines in place, an amnesty policy to encourage victims to report crimes without fear of reprisal for violating campus policy, and requires first responders to inform victims of their right to have an outside law enforcement agency investigate.
Pictured above (from left): SUNY Ulster President Alan Roberts; SUNY New Paltz President Donald Christian; Cynthia Craft, Probation Officer/Crime Victim Counselor; County Executive Mike Hein; Melanie Mullins, Director of Probation; Ulster County Sheriff Paul Van Blarcum; and Frederic Mayo, Acting Executive Director of the Hudson Valley LGBTQ Community Center.
