Umpqua Community College in Oregon was awarded $529,623 to help campus recovery efforts after a shooting that killed nine people in October.
The Department of Education’s Office of Safe and Healthy Students announced the grant May 16 as part of the Project School Emergency Response to Violence (SERV) program.
The money will fund the hiring of additional employees such as a full-time student support director, a recovery advising specialist and a mental health therapist. All three positions will develop student support, counseling and advisory services.
The Oct. 1 shooting left eight students and a faculty member dead and several other people wounded. The gunman also died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
“The resilience of the students and staff of UCC is inspiring,” Secretary of Education John B. King Jr. says. “Through our Project SERV grant, the Department is helping them to strengthen the learning environment and move on.”
The SERV project helps fund schools that have experienced a significant violent or traumatic event and need resources to recover.
Umpqua Community College is a two-year fully accredited public school in Southern Oregon. Many students are single parents, displaced workers and individuals underprepared for college.
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