Educate. Inform. Activate.
As October’s Domestic Violence Awareness month comes to a close, the Center for Community Engagement is more excited than ever about their partnership with Green Dot and Title IX. Throughout the month there have been a number of events hosted on campus to encourage students to educate themselves on domestic violence, relationship abuse and what it means to be a bystander. As a university we have made it our mission to educate, inform and activate students about bystander intervention. Keep reading to find out how you can get involved!
One Love and Escalation
Earlier this week the Center for Community Engagement hosted an Escalation workshop. This event is sponsored by the organization One Love, and works to educate people about the different types of relationship abuse and what they can do to recognize the warning signs and intervene. There was about 55 people in attendance that were able to watch the video and then participate in a directed discussion with one of our facilitators about relationship abuse. Many students left with a new image of what relationship abuse is and felt like they could recognize the warning signs if they saw them.
The Harmony House and the Counseling Center were in attendance and available for students to talk to about any questions or concerns they may have had after the event. We are hoping to schedule another event for November, so be on the lookout for that sign up!
Green Dot- Family Weekend Tent
Green Dot is a bystander intervention program that uses the concept of reactive and proactive “Green Dots” students can do! Some of these would include:
· Check in with a friend who looks uncomfortable or vulnerable
· Take a second look
· Create a distraction
· Give a friend a ride home
· Call someone out for cyber bullying/stalking
· Talk to your friends about consent
· Educate yourself about power-based personal violence
This weekend at the family tailgate there will be a Green Dot tent encouraging students to engage in conversation about bystander intervention. There will be some literature and giveaways at the event, but the main goal is to get students talking about Green Dot and educating themselves. There will be “Green Dots” that have conversation topics and facts on them. We will also have a large Red Dot there and would love help in using those Green Dots to cover the Red Dot! If you’re curious to learn more about Green Dot, stop by and see what it’s all about.
-McKinsey Wiltermuth, Student Specialist for Programming