Delaney Anderson has been hired as the inaugural WISE campus advocate—a new position created through a partnership between the College and WISE, a Lebanon, N.H.-based victims’ advocacy and crisis services organization that serves the Upper Valley region of New Hampshire and Vermont.
Delaney Anderson is the new WISE campus advocate. (Photo by Molly Drummond)
Dartmouth’s relationship with WISE, formalized last spring, is part of the Moving Dartmouth Forward initiative. As a member of WISE’s Crisis and Advocacy Team, Anderson will be a confidential resource for students, staff, and faculty who are affected by dating and domestic violence, sexual violence, or stalking, and will increase the accessibility of WISE’s 24-hour crisis and advocacy support services.
“Dartmouth’s partnership with WISE plays a critical role in enhancing the College’s confidential support services available to those affected by sexual violence, dating violence, domestic violence, and stalking,” says Heather Lindkvist, Dartmouth’s Title IX coordinator and Clery Act compliance officer.
“Delaney brings experience providing informed and culturally responsive support to a victim while also navigating the legal and institutional frameworks that inform a university’s response to sexual violence,” Lindkvist says. “We look forward to her engagement with all members of our community.”
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Dartmouth-WISE Agreement Brings Victims’ Advocate to Campus
Anderson was previously program director of the Survivor Advocacy Program at Ohio University, and has worked in victim advocacy and violence-prevention education across various institutions of higher learning for the past six years.
She joined WISE on Oct. 26, and will begin working with the Dartmouth community in November. Starting winter term, she will hold regular office hours several days a week in Fairbanks 109.
Anderson says, “I am excited to join both WISE and Dartmouth in their efforts to provide support to members of the Dartmouth community affected by dating violence, domestic violence, sexual assault, and stalking.”
“We are so happy to have Delaney join WISE’s caring and experienced Crisis and Advocacy Team as our campus advocate,” says Peggy O’Neil, executive director of WISE.
In addition to providing a dedicated campus advocate, WISE will coordinate with the College as needed to provide crisis and advocacy resources to the Dartmouth community.
Established in 1971, WISE is a nonprofit organization that supports people in crisis and educates the community in the prevention of domestic violence, sexual violence, and stalking. WISE provides a confidential and free 24-hour crisis line; support groups and workshops; emergency shelter and transitional housing; safety planning; and accompaniment to hospitals, police stations, court houses, and other social service agencies. WISE serves 21 communities in the Upper Valley.
The campus advocate’s position adds to the College’s resources for victims of sexual violence, which include assistance through a number of offices, among them the Counseling & Human Development office, Dick’s House Health Services, the Department of Safety and Security, undergraduate and graduate and professional school deans, and Lindkvist’s office. Visit the sexual respect website for a full listing of support services.
Other Moving Dartmouth Forward initiatives to improve campus safety include the launch this fall of a Dartmouth-specific safety smartphone app for students to easily and immediately seek assistance if they feel threatened. In development are a mandatory four-year sexual-violence prevention and education program for students, a responder training program for faculty and staff, and an online consent manual that will include realistic scenarios and potential sanctions to reduce ambiguity about acceptable behavior.
