November 23rd, 2015

Overland Park, KS – Faculty, staff and students from more than 90 colleges, universities and community organizations gathered at Johnson County Community College (JCCC) on November 3 and 4 to learn how they can better reduce and respond to gender and relationship violence on their campuses. More than 285 attendees from 12 states participated in the third annual Heartland Campus Safety Summit hosted by Jana’s Campaign, Inc. and JCCC. These schools represent a total enrollment of 506,774 students. Over the past three years, the Summit has hosted more than 750 attendees from 123 institutions in 12 states.

“The Heartland Campus Safety Summit was designed as a regional, affordable way for colleges and universities to learn about preventing and responding to gender and relationship violence, as well as to share knowledge, ideas and best practices,” said Kelley Parker, Executive Director of Jana’s Campaign. “We are thrilled to have such broad representation from across the region and across the country.  By working together, we can make our college and university campuses safer for all students.”

Annie Clark and Andrea Pino, co-founders of End Rape of Campus, presented a motivating keynote presentation on the importance of student advocacy on campus. Dr. Debbie Wilson, Associate Athletic Director at George Mason University, led the lunch keynote focused on the role athletics programs play in campus safety. National experts also led sessions with the latest information on prevention programming, climate surveys, student activism, and guidance on fulfilling Title IX and Clery Act requirements. The summit was generously sponsored by a HopeLine grant from Verizon Wireless of Kansas and Missouri.
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Jana’s Campaign is a Hays, KS-based national education and gender violence prevention organization created in honor of the late Jana Mackey of Lawrence, Kansas. Mackey, a 25-year old law student at the University of Kansas, was killed by an ex-boyfriend in 2008.

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