The program’s new office will cost $85,000.
Ohio University’s Survivor Advocacy Program will move from McKee House to Lindley Hall in August.
The new space for OUSAP will cost $85,000, slightly more than half the entire budget for the four new office spaces in Lindley Hall, OU officials said.
OUSAP helps survivors of sexual assault, stalking and dating and domestic violence.
“I’m hoping that there is room for privacy and security while also being accessible,” said Bekki Wyss, a senior studying English, a former Post columnist and a member of F--kRapeCulture. “It was sort of cramped and constrained in the McKee House basement.”
{{tncms-asset app="editorial" id="30c9ae40-cc32-11e4-b8aa-2b35eee4d6b7"}}
In addition to OUSAP’s new space, the Center for Campus and Community Engagement, Student Accessibility Services and the Office for Institutional Equity will find a new home in Lindley Hall.
The total cost for all four department’s offices will be $168,000, Lynnette Clouse, OU’s senior project manager, said in an email.
OUSAP will relocate to Lindley Hall in August, and the Office for Institutional Equity and Student Accessibility Services will move in June 1.
“We plan on having everyone moved in by start of Fall Semester,” Clouse said.
The new OUSAP office will be a private suite that includes four offices, a workroom and a conference room, according to a previous Post op-ed.
In order to increase privacy, the center will also have doors separating it from the rest of the space.
"The task I was given … was to find the right space,” said Laura Myers, chief of staff to the provost. “The space is the right size, it has the location, the privacy. ...Once the location was identified in Lindley, we thought it was best to invest. This is a passion of mine and it's taken over a year of work to get the right space identified.”
Wyss said she thinks the pressure from students had an impact on the decision.
{{tncms-asset app="editorial" id="a639ca20-526b-11e4-a512-0017a43b2370"}}
“It’s one of the biggest success stories for student activists,” Wyss said. “I definitely think student support prompted administration to be take it seriously.”
Myers says that while student activism is appreciated, many officials have a vested interest in the OUSAP office.
"There are many of us, myself included, within the administration who have advocated and will continue to advocate for all of the services on campus that support students and survivors of sexual harassment and sexual assault," Myers said.
Though Wyss said the new offices could be beneficial, she said she still hopes for more support for OUSAP.
“It’s a nice gesture on the part of the university,” Wyss said. “I feel like a concrete budget would be better.”
@kcoward02
kc769413@ohio.edu
