The CU-Boulder Office of Victim Assistance and the CU Rape and Gender Education (COURAGE) program have been awarded the 2000 Distinguished Service Award as part of Boulder County's observance of National Crime Victims' Rights Week.
The award will be presented at the Boulder County District Attorney and Victim/Witness Assistance Unit annual award ceremony and reception on April 13 from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. in the Boulder Public Library auditorium. Receiving the award on behalf of the programs will be Amy Robertson, director of Victim Assistance; Rebecca Brown, professional coordinator of COURAGE; and Lee Scriggins, victim advocate for Victim Assistance.
Both programs are being recognized for outstanding contributions in providing exhaustive humanitarian services to victims of crime and tragic accidents.
"Under Amy Robertson's direction, the Office of Victim Assistance has been very active in collaborating with Boulder County agencies and campus groups to address victim services and innovative community justice strategies," Scriggins said.
Every school year, Robertson, Brown and Scriggins provide victim assistance to an average of more than 1,000 people and make 5,000 contacts dealing with issues including harassment, physical and sexual assault, suicide, domestic violence and homicide.
COURAGE, a peer education program in which CU students facilitate discussions to enhance awareness of sexual assault issues, is directed by Brown, who also started an innovative program called the Interactive Theater Project. The new program "expands strategies of community discussion to broaden the understanding of sexual assault, bias-motivated incidents and other community concerns," she said.
The programs have helped facilitate individual and community responses in many local cases, including those that have received substantial media attention.
According to Ron Stump, CU-Boulder's interim vice chancellor for student affairs, "These two programs are critical for our campus in ways that most people don't realize. We would be much less of a campus if it was not for their good work with and on behalf of victims as well as their promotion of a sense of community on our campus."