Sexual
assault victims have options Mary Cunningham/ Reporter
There are multiple options available to sexual assault
victims on Elon’s campus. CrossRoads is a sexual
assault response and resource center for Alamance County
– it is not a university organization, but does work
with Elon.
If victims prefer to have a stronger connection to the
university, the Office for Personal Health and Community
Well-Being is also available.
“CrossRoads is a private non-profit organization that
provides comprehensive programs of prevention and education,
inter-agency coordination, and services for persons concerned
with or experiencing the trauma of sexual assault,”
according to their brochure. CrossRoads is available to any
sexual assault victim and will provide them with resources
and help them with whatever path they choose.
They provide a free 24-hour crisis line that provides
confidential support and information.
Advocates are also available to accompany victims to the
hospital and other appointments, serve as a liaison with
related agencies, help with legal preparation or
accompaniment and assist victims in any way that helps with
the healing process.
Intervention is also offered to “those who have direct
or indirect concerns about sexual assault,” according
to the CrossRoads brochure.
Support groups are offered at the CrossRoads office in
Burlington. Currently CrossRoads and the Office for Personal
Health and Community Well-being are trying to set up a
support group on Elon’s campus. While CrossRoads is not
directly related to the campus, the center does work with the
campus and vice versa.
The university has a long-standing partnership with
CrossRoads. Elon will refer sexual assault victims to
CrossRoads for support.
In the spring of 2005, however, because of several incidents
on campus the university created the position of coordinator
for Personal Health Programs and Community Well-being to
provide increased support for students who report sexual
violence and raise awareness on campus regarding issues of
sexual and relationship violence and to provide sound
education about these issues.
Leigh-Anne Royster, coordinator for Personal Health and
Community Well-being, is available, similar to CrossRoads, to
support sexual assault victims.
“My responsiblity is to students first,” said
Royster.
She will accompany any student to the hospital or through
the legal process, if they want her to. Royster gives every
student CrossRoads’ information and all their
options.
Royster deals with not only response, but also prevention.
She will not turn away a student who wants her help.
CrossRoads is also on campus. Jada Norcross, an adult
advocate at CrossRoads, is available on campus from 2-5 p.m.
every Tuesday in the R.N. Ellington Health and Counseling
Center.
“We want to make it known that we’re here on
campus,” said Norcross. “We have resources and
the knowledge, so victims do not have to cope
alone.”
Both CrossRoads and the Office for Personal Health and
Community Well-being exist to support sexual assault
victims.
Neither will force victims to go to the hospital or police,
they simply give victims their options and support them in
any way possible.
Call CrossRoads office at (336) 288-0813, or the 24-hour
crisis line at (336) 228-0360. Leigh-Anne Royster can be
reached at lroyster@elon.edu, (336) 278 -7200 and after hours
through campus security ext. 5555.
Contact Mary Cunningham at pendulum@elon.edu or
278-7247. | 
