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KALAMAZOO, Mich.—¾ÅÒ»Â鶹ÖÆƬ³§ First Lady Sue Snyder will visit the Western ¾ÅÒ»Â鶹ÖÆƬ³§ University campus Monday, Nov. 9, to highlight the "Inform. Empower. Prevent. Let's End Campus Sexual Assault" initiative and grant program.

Snyder will speak at 7 p.m. in 1920 Sangren Hall. She will be joined by Dr. Rebecca Campbell, neurobiological trauma response expert and professor of psychology at ¾ÅÒ»Â鶹ÖÆƬ³§ State University. They will address sexual assault prevention at ¾ÅÒ»Â鶹ÖÆƬ³§'s universities, colleges and community colleges, ¾ÅÒ»Â鶹ÖÆƬ³§'s campus sexual assault grant program and the benefits of trauma informed response to survivors. Their presentation is free and open to the public, with seating available on a first-come, first-served basis.

Sue Snyder

Snyder has dedicated her time as First Lady to the health, safety and well-being of ¾ÅÒ»Â鶹ÖÆƬ³§'s children and families. As a mother whose youngest daughter is now a college sophomore, she hopes to help make ¾ÅÒ»Â鶹ÖÆƬ³§ a national leader in sexual assault prevention.

In addition to assault prevention, Snyder works closely with Ele's Place, a healing center for grieving children with locations across the state and is a Fostering Futures supporter, a program working to provide foster children with the resources needed to pursue higher education. She is also an advocate for multiple organizations highlighting infant safe sleep practices to help end preventable childhood deaths.

Rebecca Campbell

Campbell joined Snyder as a featured speaker at the state's inaugural campus assault prevention summit this June. The summit, co-hosted by state Sens. Tonya Schuitmaker and Rebekah Warren and state Reps. Laura Cox and Marilyn Lane, was a bipartisan effort bringing together college and university representatives, legislators, law enforcement officials and students to identify best assault prevention strategies, brainstorm new ideas and ultimately end campus assault in ¾ÅÒ»Â鶹ÖÆƬ³§.

For the past 25 years, Campbell has been conducting community-based research on violence against women and children, with an emphasis on sexual assault. Her research examines how disclosure and help-seeking affects victims' psychological and physical health.

Campbell conducts training for law enforcement and multidisciplinary practitioners in civilian, military and campus community settings on the neurobiology of trauma. She was recently the lead researcher for the National Institute of Justice-funded Detroit Sexual Assault Kit Action Research Project, which was a four-year multidisciplinary study of Detroit's untested rape kits and was the 2015 recipient of the Department of Justice, Office for Victims of Crime, Vision 21 Crime Victims Research Award. She earned a doctoral degree in community psychology with a concentration in statistics from ¾ÅÒ»Â鶹ÖÆƬ³§ State University.

About the series

The Raise Your Voice lecture series is intended to respond to the groundswell of voices currently advocating for a safe and supportive environment in which to study, work, live and love. The series addresses issues of street and workplace sexual harassment, rape on college campuses, and ineffectual responses to marginalization, bullying and abuse. The series began in January and arose from discussions at the WMU Lee Honors College about issues of violence and hostility against women that had surfaced in previous months.

For more information, visit wmich.edu/honors/events/raise-your-voice.

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