As April marks Sexual Assault Awareness Month, a student-led proposal to bring victim advocacy services to Quinnipiac University is moving forward after months of administrative pushback.
First reported by The Quinnipiac Chronicle, the initiative, led by junior behavioral neuroscience major Victor Constanza, calls for a centralized, survivor-focused support system separate from existing resources like Title IX and CARE. While the university cited financial concerns and maintained that current systems were sufficient, the proposal has since advanced into active planning discussions.
Constanza said increased visibility, particularly through The Quinnipiac Chronicle’s coverage, helped push the initiative forward .
“In my experience in organizing, there’s no such thing as a secret fight. Change doesn’t happen in secret,” Constanza said. “That was something I always wanted to do—bring it public, because of how Quinnipiac functions. They don’t like bad PR.”
The proposal gained traction through a student petition that gathered hundreds of signatures, along with social media outreach and in-person organizing.
To address gaps in current systems, the university is now considering a partnership model that would bring in an external organization specializing in victim advocacy. Constanza said discussions remain ongoing and that he cannot yet name the partner.
“Right now it’s more of the discussions and the logistics and the legal contractual items that have to be done,” he said.
Despite that, he expressed optimism about the timeline.
“My hope is that we can officially announce victim services sometime this April before the semester ends,” he said. “The goal is to have full, ready-to-go services starting next semester.”
Student reactions reflect both support for the initiative and frustration with the university’s earlier response.
Kathryn DeStefano, a graduate student in molecular biology, said she was familiar with Title IX and CARE but had not heard about the proposal prior to the interview. While she said she needed more information to fully evaluate how the office would differ, she strongly criticized the university’s financial reasoning.
“The university is blowing smoke,” DeStefano said. “They waste money elsewhere, but claim they can’t support students, it feels like they don’t care about us.”
Lidia Generali, a sophomore public relations major, said she signed the petition after seeing it circulate on campus and believes the university’s justification falls short.
“Anyone fighting back against creating a safe space for survivors is genuinely a joke,” Generali said. She added that the level of student support shows there are ways to sustain the program, including fundraising and volunteer involvement.
“There is no reason not to support creating safe spaces,” she said. “Current systems aren’t specific enough to what students need during difficult times. The current resources can’t fully support survivors to the degree necessary.”
As discussions continue during Sexual Assault Awareness Month, the proposal underscores the impact of sustained student advocacy in addressing sexual violence on campus. For Constanza, the goal is ensuring students feel supported.
“When people face sexual violence, they feel isolated,” he said. “We have to make sure that doesn’t happen.”