The Title IX Office’s Mini Grant Program, rolled out this semester, aims to help fund student-led events centering on the prevention of and response to incidents of sex or gender-based misconduct, rolled out this semester. The program will provide financial awards of $200 designated to fund programming related to sex and gender-based misconduct, boundary-setting, and healthy communication on campus.
The Mini Grants are the idea of Mace McDonald, a sexual misconduct prevention education specialist with the Title IX Office who was inspired by the mini grants sponsored by the Paul J. Burgett Intercultural Center for intercultural programming on campus.
“The work that I do is really important to me, but our office isn’t well positioned to like, reach out to students,” McDonald said in a Zoom meeting with Campus Times. “Unless a student has a particular interest, there’s no real reason for them to come and speak with us.”
The Title IX Office is tucked away deep within the engineering quad in Taylor Hall. McDonald hopes that the Mini Grant program will encourage students to engage with Title IX and the resources available through their staff.
Applicants to the Mini Grant program would preferably have previous training experience with the Title IX Office through a program such as new member orientation or co-sponsorships with Medallion and other organizations, such as the BADASS Bystander program, McDonald said. However, it is not required.
What is required for applications is that the proposed programming should promote the aims of the Title IX Office, which McDonald describes as relating to sexual misconduct with sex and gender equity.
The number of grants awarded each application cycle will depend on how much funding is available and the number of applicants. Funding for the Title IX Office comes from New York State and federal governments, as per Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972. The goal of the new Mini Grants is to put this funding into students’ hands to determine what programming is needed on campus.
Current campus events such as Take Back the Night, Morado, and tarot self-care nights could all be considered for funding, but the Title IX Office is open to other student proposals.
McDonald has their own ideas of events that could be eligible for funding under the Mini Grants.
“I ordered a bunch of glow-in-the-dark frisbees as swag for the Title IX Office, and I’m kind of hoping somebody will want to plan a consent and Ultimate Frisbee event,” they said.
Anyone who is interested in proposing Title IX-related programming and discussing the Mini Grants further can contact McDonald through the Title IX Office in Taylor Hall room 20, or by setting up an appointment via Zoom. The Title IX Office will also be present at the LGBTQ+ Well-being Fair Thursday, Feb. 13.
This semester’s application deadlines are on March 4 and April 1. Beginning in Fall 2025, there will be three application deadlines per semester. The application can be found on the Title IX Office’s CCC page.
