Jennifer Bodnar, director of LHU's Campus Violence Prevention Program

LOCK HAVEN, Pa. - Jennifer Bodnar, director of Lock Haven University’s Campus Violence Prevention Program (CVPP), has been selected to receive the Outstanding New Professional Award from NASPA’s GLBT Knowledge Community. NASPA (Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education) is the country’s premier association for student affairs professionals.
Ms. Bodnar attended the University of Tennessee for her bachelors and masters degrees, and graduated summa cum laude and valedictorian. She comes to Lock Haven with an activist background, having advocated for victims of domestic violence, sexual assault and stalking. Ms. Bodnar has worked in the court system with both victims and perpetrators. She spent the past few years doing crisis intervention counseling and protection from abuse orders through community agencies, as well as case management in a battered women’s shelter. Before that, she worked in student affairs at the University of Tennessee and media relations at a governmental agency.
In addition to being the director of CVPP, Ms. Bodnar is an active member of the President’s Commission on the Status of Women, the President’s Commission on LGBT Issues, Women of Distinction Committee and Collaborative Board. She serves as an adviser for the Gay Straight Alliance and Campus Violence Prevention Club, as well as co-chair and co-founder of the Lock Haven chapter of Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG.) Ms. Bodnar is also a member of LHU’s Safe Zone, a group of faculty and staff who openly support GLBT issues. She is involved with the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators and American College Personnel Association.
Ms. Bodnar describes herself as “a strong advocate for GLBT rights, and not a quiet one either.” She finds it “refreshing to work for an institution that holds the same values,” and appreciates her graduate assistant, Alicia Perrelli, for nominating her for this award.
Ms. Bodnar will be recognized for her achievement on March 14, 2011 at the NASPA national conference in Philadelphia, Pa.