New position a part of Simpson settlement
The Office of Victim Assistance will be hiring a part-time counselor to their staff as a stipulation of Lisa Simpson’s settlement agreement with CU.
“The position is yet to be worked out,” said Bronson Hilliard, CU media relations coordinator.
Hilliard explained that there is not yet a timeline set for when this new employee will start work. He also described the uncertainty of what exactly this new employee’s position will be.
Section 24 of the settlement discussed that the new employee must be named and begin work within 90 days.
In 2001, the Office of Victim Assistance received a three-year federal grant to revamp their program from the U.S. Department of Justice of Violent Crimes Against Women before the rape case took place. The office of Victim Assistance reapplied for the grant in 2003, after the 2001 grant had expired, but did not receive it. The group applied again in 2004 and received the grant for a second time.
“The grant helped us be able to beef up all of our programs,” said Mary Friedrichs, director of Victim Assistance.
The grants provided a means to better the organization with increased ties with Wardenburg Health Center and other relevant departments on campus.
Though it cannot be proven, a connection may be drawn between the media limelight of the title IX case and Victim Assistance’s reception of the grant for a second time, after being denied it the year before, Friedrichs said.
Hilliard said that the office of Victim Assistance would have their hand in the hiring of the required new employee.
Friedrichs did not know anything more about the position other than what was released in the settlement, but she did share the organization’s criteria for hiring new counselors.
“The ideal candidate would have a master’s level of education, would preferably be licensed, have a clinical background or a background in counseling, and would have experience with gender violence,” Friedrichs said.
An in-house committee normally searches for Victim Assistance counselor candidates. They are then interviewed personally with several people reviewing their résumé.
As of now, it is too early to tell exactly what this new employee will do for the office of Victim Assistance, but overall officials feel optimistic about its introduction.
“We’re always glad to have the extra help, and I think the new position will definitely be beneficial,” Friedrichs said.
Contact Campus Press Staff Writer Daniel Carter at daniel.carter@thecampuspress.com
