Stony Brook’s Center for Prevention and Outreach (CPO) is now located at the Student Activities Center (SAC), Room 310, offering students services and support to address concerns about alcohol and other drugs, and sexual violence, in one unified location.
“By integrating our two service departments under one roof, our efforts are better coordinated, and we can deliver better service to our students,” said Smita Majumdar Das, assistant director of CPO. “We’re now located in a high-traffic student area and activity hub, which increases both the visibility and vibrancy of our office.”
The new CPO office features an open area with large windows overlooking the SAC courtyard, tables for students to collaborate, private rooms for each staff member to meet with students and others confidentially if needed, and skylights filling the space with natural light, which creates an inviting and comfortable atmosphere.
“Our new space creates a very friendly environment, which is more welcoming to students,” said Samantha Winter, complainant navigator for CPO. “And by moving to a student-centered building, students will be able to find us more easily.”
A more comfortable and inviting office may help staff like Samantha, who provides confidential advocacy and support to students, faculty and staff who experience any kind of sexual or interpersonal violence. While CPO is focused on prevention and early intervention by providing knowledge and resources to individuals, they also provide a network of care for those in need of support.
The space may also encourage more members of the community to get involved with CPO’s various peer education and bystander intervention programs, such as Red Watch Band, Green Dot, and Swallow This!
CPO celebrated their new office space with an open house on November 17, which included an exhibition of student artwork highlighting substance abuse, addiction, sexual violence and recovery — two leading public health crises sweeping across college campuses.
The exhibition’s purpose was to contribute to the concept that creativity and artistic expression can play a significant role both in recovery and in raising awareness of the personal and community tolls caused by substance abuse, addiction and sexual violence.
For more information about the Center for Prevention and Outreach, visit stonybrook.edu/cpo.
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