Karmen Brown joined Lafayette College on July 15 as the director of student advocacy and prevention after a year-long search for candidates.
Brown has eight years of experience in advocacy and prevention, having worked in both nonprofits and higher education.
“I am a preventionist at heart,” Brown said, referring to her career in victim advocacy. “What we want is to be able to live in a world where these issues don’t happen anymore, where essentially advocacy is no longer needed, because we’ve worked so hard on the prevention part.”
In her new role, formerly known as the student advocacy and prevention coordinator, Brown will act as a confidential resource for students.
According to Brown, the role “focuses on supporting students who have experienced any type of interpersonal violence,” which she said includes sexual assault, dating domestic violence or stalking.
Brown will also act as the faculty advisor to two student organizations: Peer Anti-Violence Educators, or PAVE, and Pards Against Sexual Assault, or PASA. Both organizations lead sexual assault and interpersonal violence awareness events and workshops.
“Peer-to-peer support is so important, whether that be in formal education settings or in awareness settings,” Brown said. “Sometimes students don’t want to have to listen to me or it doesn’t hit the same coming from me.”
Before Brown’s hiring, Lafayette had been without a staff member specifically dedicated to advocacy and prevention since Katy Bednarsky departed the college in July 2023.
According to PAVE member Harper Will ‘25, the organization struggled when Bednarsky left. While the position was vacant, its responsibilities were passed to the dean of students, shifting PAVE’s advisor from Bednarksy to Brian Samble to Jennifer Dize over the 2023-24 academic year.
According to Will, PAVE members had the opportunity to meet candidates and provide input during the selection process of the new student advocacy director.
“We were very lucky that [Brown] came in when she did,” PAVE co-coordinator Mackenzie Steinbiss ‘26 said. Steinbiss said that PAVE now has Brown to help coordinate upcoming peer educator trainings, which are designed to follow college guidelines.
“She’s an important resource to have on this campus,” PAVE co-coordinator Lauren Karwacki ’26 said.
In the future, Brown said she is “excited to have the opportunity to partner with pretty much anybody who’s looking for any type of education, whether that be from me or from PAVE or PASA.”
