What takes longer than creating a new position in the administration and finding a qualified candidate for it? Saying the position’s title.

The new staff member, the coordinator for sexual violence response and healthy relationship promotion, will assume his or her role in the fall. The creation of the position stems from a recommendation from Drake’s Alcohol Task Force. The Task Force is interviewing two candidates this week: Carrie Giese and Indira Blasevic.

A year ago the Task Force met to recommend the position, President Maxwell provided the funding and the search committee was formed. They didn’t want to jump into anything, Dean of Students Sentwali Bakari said.

“We wanted to be clear about what they would be doing and how they would deal with these cases,” Bakari said.

range of things, advocating for sexual assault victims, working with administration to create educational programming to prevent violence and promote healthy relationships. A 24-hour hotline will also be established for victims to call.

Bakari said it’s important for students to know there’s a person at Drake who is an expert and can help students get the support they need.

“We hope this person will make a new culture of education about the topic and hopefully make Drake a better place,” Bakari said.