Our History and Principles

After Title IX was enacted in 1972, Safe Place services were officially introduced to the CSU, Chico campus in January 2010. Local colleges and advocacy organizations partnered up to create a department that would facilitate healing for individuals impacted by harm. Unfortunately, due to the grant issued by the Department of Justice expiring, Safe Place had to close its doors in early 2012. Due to activism and student involvement Safe Place was able to open back up after just three weeks. Safe Place was then officially institutionalized in Fall 2012.

Wellcat Safe Place (WCSP) envisions a campus community free from sexual assault, intimate partner violence, and stalking.

Safe Place operates using the following five guiding principles:

• Survivor Centered: Each individual experience of sexual assault, intimate partner violence, and stalking is unique and complex. We strive to provide individualized support and empower individuals to utilize autonomy and self-determination.
• Intersectionality: We acknowledge that everyone holds multiple identities that weave together to create one complex being that impacts healing and growth.
• Advocacy: Understanding advocacy as an individual and/or collective experience in our campus community, we strive to be intentional in providing direct, outreach, and educational services that foster short- and long-term change.
• Cultivating Future Leaders: Providing internship opportunities to interdisciplinary students. WCSP commits to introducing a world of advocacy by offering opportunities that foster change, growth, and development.
• Restorative Healing: Promoting healing spaces through multiple avenues that support individualized journeys of growth.