WASHINGTON, March 4 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- As part of the Justice Department's year-long commemoration of the 15th anniversary of the Violence Against Women Act, Associate Attorney General Tom Perrelli today announced the kick-off of a nationwide college campus tour by top department officials to raise awareness of violence against women.  Throughout the month of March, eight members of the Department of Justice leadership will visit 12 universities around the nation, including public, private and faith-based institutions and a Historically Black College and University (HBCU).  Department officials will speak with students about ways to prevent violence against women on college campuses, and the role that federal, state and local government, working with university staff, faculty and students, should play.

Many of the campuses are recipients of the department's Office on Violence Against Women's "Grants to Reduce Domestic Violence, Dating Violence, Sexual Assault and Stalking on Campus Program."  The program is intended to develop and strengthen victim services in cases involving domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault and stalking on campuses.  Grants are designed to encourage colleges and universities to adopt comprehensive, coordinated responses to violent crimes against women on campuses, creating partnerships among campus entities and with community-based victim services organizations and criminal and civil justice agencies.  Department leaders will participate in events that will highlight the role and impact of grantees on campus and in the greater community.

The campus tour is another part of the Justice Department's initiative to raise public awareness on issues around violence against women, to build and renew coalitions among federal, state, local and tribal law enforcement and victim services communities, and to end domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault and stalking for men, women and children across the country.  As part of this effort, more than 100 celebrity allies have lent their names in support of the department's "Join the List" initiative to raise awareness on violence against women with their fans. 

Each campus visit will include at least one open press event.  Logistical details will be released closer to the event date.  The list of the campus visits is below:

March 8, 2010

Associate Attorney General Tom Perrelli  

Harvard University (Cambridge, Mass.)

March 9, 2010

Associate Attorney General Tom Perrelli  

Brown University (Providence, R.I.)

March 10, 2010

Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Division Tony West  

Stanford University (Palo Alto, Calif.)

March 11, 2010

Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Division Tony West

Pacific Lutheran University (Tacoma, Wash.)

March 12, 2010

Assistant Attorney General for the Environment and Natural Resources Division Ignacia S. Moreno

University of Illinois at Chicago (Chicago)

March 15, 2010

Assistant Attorney General for the Criminal Division Lanny A. Breuer

University of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia)

March 23, 2010

Acting Director of the Office on Violence Against Women Catherine Pierce

East Central University (Ada, Okla.)

March 23, 2010

Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Division Tony West

Norfolk State University (Norfolk, Va.)

March 29, 2010

Director of the Community Oriented Police Services Program Bernard K. Melekian

University of Southern California (Los Angeles)

March 29, 2010

Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Legislative Affairs Ronald Weich  

University of New Hampshire (Durham, N.H.)

March 31, 2010

Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Justice Programs Laurie O. Robinson

University of Minnesota (Minneapolis)

March 31, 2010

Assistant Attorney General for the Environment and Natural Resources Division Ignacia S. Moreno

University of Michigan (Ann Arbor, Mich.)

SOURCE U.S. Department of Justice

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