The Center for Awareness, Response and Education will stand as its own office this year, vice president for student affairs Patricia Telles-Irvin announced in a statement.

CARE, once a part of Health Promotion and Wellness within Northwestern University Health Services, opened in 2011 and has since gained staff members and received multiple grants. Telles-Irvin said the growth of the office fueled the move to make CARE a freestanding office.

Erin Clark, formerly the assistant director of CARE, will now serve as the center’s director, Telles-Irvin said. Carrie Wachter, who previously worked as the coordinator of sexual violence response services and advocacy, will now be the assistant director of sexual violence response services and advocacy.

Clark told The Daily that CARE will continue to work closely with HPaW. CARE’s office will remain in Searle Hall, and close to Counseling and Psychological Services, she said.

“We have our own voice and vision,” Clark said. “There’s nothing that will be changing in terms of student services.”

CAPS executive director John Dunkle will oversee both CARE and CAPS, according to Telles-Irvin’s statement, but the center will have a “separate budget, strategic plan, goals, and operations” from CAPS.

“This move allows CARE to operate independently, and to have institutional support for the work of supporting trauma survivors and students in crisis,” Telles-Irvin said in the statement. “We are excited to continue to grow this work in creating a culture of consent at Northwestern.”

The University will also continue to fund the coordinator of men’s engagement position, after the federal grant that funded the position expired this month. Paul Ang, who worked as the coordinator of men’s engagement since coming to Northwestern in 2015, left the University in August to begin a position at the University of Minnesota. Clark is leading the search for a new coordinator.

This story was updated Sept. 15 at 7:30 p.m. to include comments from Erin Clark.

Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @ericasnoww