In July 2015, New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo implemented the “Enough is Enough” campaign to combat sexual assault on SUNY campuses. Now, the training program geared toward stopping violence is available to professionals.

The training is funded by a $496,000 grant to all involved schools from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The training — which is conducted for resident assistants (RA), members of the Student Conduct Board and other groups — teaches college students, faculty and staff to recognize sexual assault and how to safely intervene. Any Binghamton University group or individual can request training, such as recognized Greek organizations and Intercollegiate Athletics.

According to Johann Fiore-Conte, assistant vice president for health and wellness, examples of training include web-based training for students and staff, training for students and families during summer orientation, RA training, conduct board training and various other group and class training. There is a bystander component, which addresses safe ways for bystanders to intervene.

BU implemented a sexual assault task force in 2011, according to Fiore-Conte. This group looks at current practices related to cases of interpersonal violence, which encompasses relationship or dating violence, sexual assault, harassment, stalking, family violence, physical or emotional violence, bullying, cyber bullying or online harassment. The program seeks out best practices and makes recommendations for change.

“Even prior to 2011, the University was well engaged in this work through a Department of Justice grant in 2005, which provided for a sexual assault advocate and prevention trainer and the work of the 20:1 program, a program composed of leaders from the University’s diverse fraternities whose mission it was to educate on issues regarding sexual assault prevention,” Fiore-Conte wrote in an email.

The task force hired an interpersonal violence prevention coordinator in 2012 to support student victims and provide educational outreach. They also hired a sexual assault advocate through the Dean of Students office in 2015 and reactivated the campus Sexual Assault Response Team (SART), a university-wide group that meets regularly to ensure compliance with all federal and SUNY guidelines. A full-time Title IX coordinator was also hired whose primary job is to address any Title IX-related concerns.

The campaign requires SUNY to establish a definition of affirmative consent and an amnesty policy that is uniform across the state colleges, which protects student bystanders who report sexual assault despite the presence of drugs, alcohol and other violations of campus rules.

According to Andrew Baker, the Title IX coordinator, BU has developed training for faculty and students based on federal policies, SUNY guidelines and student input. Those trained through this campaign will then become certified to teach bystander intervention to students. Training is tailored to each group, but includes grievance procedures, how to recognize and appropriately address allegations and complaints, identifying sex discrimination, sexual harassment, sexual assault and sexual violence.

Alex Gellman, a sophomore majoring in economics, said that it is important for people to be trained because sexual assault situations can make people scared and unsure of what to do.

“A lot of people don’t want to get involved because they don’t know other peoples’ story and it’s an uncomfortable topic,” Gellman said. “However, if they receive the correct kind of training to intervene, they will feel more confident when they come to a real situation that can really make a difference in somebody else’s life.”

Anyone who is interested in training may contact Baker, Sexual Assault Advocate Doris Cheung, or 20:1 Coordinator Dara Raboy-Picciano.