(Posted 2025 August)
George Mason University and Domestic and Sexual Violence Services Join Forces to Support Students
George Mason University’s Student Support and Advocacy Center has existed since 2012. It sometimes had a different name—it started as Waves, but its mission has remained the same: assisting students encountering life crises or barriers to their success. One way the center supports students is through violence reduction and education, which is how it intersects with Domestic and Sexual Violence Services. Volunteer Voices recently sat down with several SSAC staff to talk about the center’s mission and its collaboration with DSVS. This is an excerpt of that conversation.
Volunteer Voices: How does SSAC support GMU’s students?
Kristin Gibson (Associate Director): We pride ourselves on being a center where we keep in mind the whole student and their intersecting needs as it relates to our focal areas. That includes basic needs, survivor support, and financial well-being. The idea is students can be best served where people are working in collaboration to ensure there’s no gap in service delivery.
Marissa Gandolfo Muller (Assistant Director): We assess what they’re going through by providing individual consultations and guidance, and we make connections to appropriate resources both on and off campus.
What does the center’s work with sexual violence look like in action?
MGM: We get a lot of our referrals from GMU’s police department or faculty saying a student has disclosed. We make phone calls and send emails. But students are allowed to make their own choices. We can do in-person or virtual meetings. We have them sign a confidentiality form and let kids tell us what they’re comfortable with. We do safety planning and counseling [to address any] psychological issues. If they need it, we support their basic needs.
KG: This is an area where we do a lot of prevention, education, and awareness programming. This is a core function of Hailie [Baker’s] job.
Hailie Baker (Assistant Director for Sexual and Interpersonal Violence Response and Prevention): We have workshops on campus that focus on survivor support, healthy relationships, and consent. We educate students on what sexual violence looks like and what resources are available in our area.
Talk about the partnership with Fairfax County’s Domestic and Sexual Violence Services division. How long has that been active?
HB: We have a longstanding relationship. When we’re looking for community support when students are experiencing domestic violence or sexual violence, we do everything in our power to help, but we do have limitations. DSVS helps us fill gaps—especially legal and housing.
Is that the best thing about the partnership?
HB: it’s one of the great parts. Having that great information from different people in the field. It gives us a better understanding of what’s going on and what services we can provide. When we have restrictions, particularly on legal, partnerships like DSVS really help us in making sure people are getting that support. DSVS has also come on campus to do tabling events.
Is there anything challenging thing about the partnership?
MGM: I can’t think of anything.
Anything else our audience should know about the center?
KG: There’s no cost. We are here to support any student who is enrolled in GMU. That includes if people reach out because they are experiencing vicarious trauma, have witnessed intimate partner violence, or have a friend struggling with sexual or interpersonal violence. We support those students as well and connect them with resources. Certainly, a limitation of ours is our hours—Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. As well as the academic calendar. There’s a long holiday break. (We are open during summer. We have summer students.) We openly admit our hours and the holiday break don’t particularly align with when people need us. This is where our community partners really shine. We really rely on community agencies to fill that service gap.
HB: We are non-clinical services only. We do a lot of outreach to clinical services. But we don’t provide any therapeutic interventions.
MGM: Students can make self-referrals. And friends, family, and others concerned about them also can reach out.