Associate Dean Toby Simon to leave Brown after fall semester

Associate Dean of Student Life Toby Simon, a nationally renowned innovator of college-level programs to promote health education and address issues of sexual misconduct, will leave Brown University at the end of the current semester.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- After fifteen years of service to Brown University, Associate Dean of Student Life Toby B. Simon has announced her resignation in order to pursue other interests. Simon will complete her regular duties in Student Life at the end of the current semester and will be on an administrative leave for the second half of the academic year.

During her leave, Simon will finish two books: one for parents on college selection and one for high school seniors on campus sex and violence. She will also be serving as co-chair of the National Conference on Campus Sexual Assault.

Simon came to Brown in 1981 as director of a newly formed Department of Health Education. In that capacity she created a wide range of programs to help students develop healthy life styles. Her work in promoting "condom literacy" more than tripled the rate of condom use on the Brown campus, from 20 percent in 1981 to 75 percent in 1995. Her work in this area also resulted in the production of an award-winning film, "Pros and Condoms," which has been distributed nationwide.

Simon's approach, which combines health education information about alcohol and sexual behaviors with campuswide educational programs, has been replicated on campuses across the country. She was also responsible for the development of programs for women with eating disorders, and co-authored, with Dean of Student Life Robin Rose, a manual for facilitating groups for individuals who were "food preoccupied."

In 1991, Simon was appointed associate dean of student life. In that role she has provided significant leadership in formulating policies, procedures and programs related to sexual misconduct. Her contributions included creation of an advocates program, development of procedures for adjudicating sexual misconduct cases, and creation of the Sexual Assault Peer Education program or SAPE. In addition to these efforts, she was instrumental in creating Class Meeting #4, a program which takes place during orientation and addresses issues of consent in sexual relationships.

Related to her work with SAPE, Simon has developed a program on dating violence, has co-authored three books and has produced two videos which have helped more than 500 other colleges and high schools replicate the SAPE program. She has also served as an advisor to the Anti-Sexual Assault Program (ASAP), a group of recent graduates who are on tour across the country.

Simon taught a course in human sexuality for 10 years to undergraduates and students in the Brown medical school. She serves as a consultant to the American Academy of Pediatrics Adolescent Health Division and to the American Medical Association Task Force on Sexual Assault. Her plans for the future include writing, consulting and speaking on issues of sexual assault, dating violence and other areas of professional interest.

"Toby has been a powerful and creative presence on this campus for fifteen years," Rose said. "Her energy, enthusiasm and dedication to our students will be sorely missed. We wish her the very best in the important and creative work that she will be doing."