Violence Prevention
Get Involved!
Preventing violence is everyone's responsibility! Student interns and volunteers help enact real change here at USF. To learn more about getting involved, email va@usf.edu for more information
PAVE (Peer Anti-Violence Educators)
From fall to spring semester, our student volunteers, PAVE, work closely with the Violence Prevention Team to create lasting culture change and build a safer, more supportive USF community. Volunteers raise awareness about violence affecting college campuses and engage USF students in prevention initiatives.
In PAVE, volunteers can engage in anti-violence work in many ways: facilitation and presenting, outreach, event planning and support, community mobilization, marketing, and more! As student representatives of the Violence Prevention office, PAVE students play a crucial role in supporting prevention initiatives across campus. Volunteers receive ongoing professional development and training on violence prevention and trauma-informed support.
Applications open up in February and selections occur in April. Undergraduate and graduate students from all majors and experience backgrounds are encouraged to apply.
General requirements include:
-Attend initial 10-hour onboarding training at the beginning of fall semester
-Attend monthly meetings (typically held on the first Tuesday
of the month from 5-7:00PM)
-Participate in 10 hours of volunteer activities a semester
Internship Program - Email va@usf.edu to apply
Violence Prevention interns do project-based work and support violence prevention
initiatives, which can include assisting with event planning, outreach, ongoing programming,
marketing, and evaluation. We accept up to 2-3 interns each semester. Interns typically
volunteer 10-20 hours a week through an internship class for credit, which is offered
through most majors. If you are interested in interning with our department but do
not have a class in mind that will provide credit, you can always take an internship
class through Career Services that will be added to your transcript.
Students interested in interning with the Violence Prevention Program should email a resume and letter of interest (which can be a short paragraph explaining why you wnt to intern with Violence Prevention) to va@usf.edu.
See why some of our student volunteers believe in preventing violence!
Melissa "I believe that education can empower a community to intervene in the face of violence"
Joshua "I believe in a better tomorrow for everyone"
Catherine "I believe that everybody deserves to feel happy, healthy, empowered, and safe in their relationships"
Almendra "I believe in our power to work together in the journey to ending violence for all"