Traumatic events happen every day in all communities and the CU Boulder community is not exempt. Students, staff and faculty experience harassment, discrimination, incidents of bias, assaults, abuse and more.
- Experiences of bias
- Harassment
- Discrimination
- Disasters
- Grief and loss
- Sexual harassment
- Intimate partner abuse
- Hazing
- Physical assault
- Sexual assault
- Stalking
With the start of a new academic year we want you to feel prepared to support our community. If someone tells you about experiencing a traumatic event, here are a few tips:
- Check on safety first.
- Listen and avoid expressing judgment.
- Normalize and validate their feelings.
- Avoid minimizing what is shared.
- Help explore options and choices.
- Connect them with the Office of Victim Assistance (OVA).
Impact can vary and CU Boulder’s Office of Victim Assistance strives to mitigate the impact of traumatic experiences by decreasing barriers and empowering victims/survivors in making informed decisions by providing free and confidential trauma-informed services.
The Office of Victim Assistance has a team of professional counselor advocates who are available to help. The office provides free and confidential information, consultation, support, advocacy and short-term counseling services to CU Boulder’s students, faculty and staff who have experienced a traumatic, disturbing or life-disruptive event.
Visit the new and improved colorado.edu/ova for more information and resources including how to help and how to get help.
If you have experienced a traumatic or disruptive experience, you can also learn more about your options and how to help by visiting the Don’t Ignore It site.
Exploring Student Affairs is a series for discovering the roles of Student Affairs on campus as a resource not only for students, but also faculty and staff.
