The Wellness Center is searching for a new Sexual Assault Prevention Coordinator after Daniel Rappaport, who previously held that job, left the University for a new position on July 10.
According to Sara Yzaguirre, who is the Coordinator for Victim Advocacy Services, she and Meghan Cohen, the Health and Wellness Education Coordinator, have split Rappaport's former responsibilities for the time being. Yzaguirre acts as the confidential advocate for sexual assault victims while Cohen supervises PEERS, a group of students who promote sexual assault prevention through the Wellness Center.
"We definitely missed Daniel during Welcome Week as we rolled out Empower AU, and we'll be happy when the Wellness Center is fully staffed again," Yzaguirre said.
A job posting was put up in August to fill Rappaport's position, and several candidates are now in the interview process, according to Yzaguirre. The new hire will be responsible for advocacy work, programming, promotion of sexual assault prevention and supervising PEERS.
AU originally set out to hire a survivors’ advocate to lessen the burden on Rappaport, The Eagle previously reported. Vice President of Campus Life Gail Hanson announced the search in a July 2014 email to the AU community.
“We want to be sure that we have enough [staff] capacity to help people when they need help,” Hanson said in an interview at the time. “With the addition of another full-time person, we ought to have both the confidential resources and the training resources covered.”
That search culminated in the hire of Yzaguirre last fall, The Eagle previously reported.
Rappaport, who had worked at the Wellness Center since 2010, is now an employee of D.C.’s Office of Victim Services and Justice Grants Administration. The OVS ensures that victims of violent crime including sexual assault receive services from the District government and community organizations, Rappaport said.
This position allows him to continue the fight against sexual assault in a broader capacity.
"The new position is a natural next step in my career path toward greater opportunity to influence and contribute to efforts to improve victim services in the District, something I hope to continue to do for a long time," Rappaport said in an email.
Specifically, Rappaport is the grant manager for recipients of money from his office and coordinates with organizations throughout the District, including AU and other universities.
While the person hired in his place will be in charge of changing the culture of sexual violence on AU's campus, Rappaport said the fight against sexual assault is larger.
"The prevention of sexual violence, dating violence and stalking — as well as violence all together — is something I find incredibly important," Rappaport said in the email. "While I'm lucky enough to have the opportunity to do work for this issue as my career, it's on all of us to change a culture that perpetuates and normalizes violence."
