Green Dot Week to raise awareness about sexual assault prevention
Connecticut College will kick off its annual “Green Dot Week,” a series of events and activities dedicated to raising awareness about the College’s violence prevention program, with a training workshop for students Friday and the popular Green Dot Men’s Hockey Game on Saturday.
Implemented at Connecticut College in 2010, Green Dot is a national bystander intervention program through which faculty, staff and students are trained in bystander-intervention techniques to help prevent sexual violence, domestic violence, dating violence and stalking. A "Green Dot" is defined as any behavior, choice, word or attitude that counters or displaces a "red dot" of violence.
Nearly a quarter of all current Connecticut College students have received Green Dot training. That’s well above the 15 percent goal for Green Dot schools, which is considered the critical mass necessary to shift a campus culture.
“Conn students are taught to recognize situations in which someone may be at risk for power-based personal violence, and Green Dot empowers them with the tools to intervene,” said Darcie Folsom, director of sexual violence prevention and advocacy at the College. “We are confronting these issues head on, and Green Dot Week is another great proactive way to get the entire campus talking about violence prevention.”
The Green Dot hockey game is one of the best-attended sporting events of the year. Members of the men's hockey team—more than 90 percent have been trained in the Green Dot program—will don special green jerseys to take on Tufts University at 7 p.m. in Dayton Arena on the Connecticut College campus. The event will feature raffle prizes and giveaways, and spectators are encouraged to wear green to show their Green Dot pride.
“It’s the biggest game of our season and the one we circle on the calendar every year,” said team captain Joe Giordano ’17. “But as a team, we stress that representing Green Dot is about much more than a game—it’s about doing what is right and looking out for others.”
The full schedule of Green Dot Week events is as follows:
- Feb 3: Green Dot Training for students, 1 p.m. To sign up for the training, contact Darcie Folsom at 860-439-2219 or darcie.folsom@conncoll.edu.
- Feb. 4: 6th Annual Green Dot Hockey Game vs. Tufts University, 7 p.m. in Dayton Arena. The event will feature raffle prizes and giveaways, and students are encouraged to wear Green Dot gear.
- Feb. 6: Green Dot Dinner, 5-8 p.m. in Harris Refectory. Harris will “go green” with decorations, a themed dessert and an information table for those interested in attending a Green Dot training.
- Feb. 7: Green Dot Bar Night, 10 p.m. in Humphrey’s. Students age 21 and older are invited to catch up with Darcie Folsom, pick up an exclusive Green Dot cup and discuss ways to incorporate Green Dot into their post-grad lives.
- Feb. 8: Green Dot Spin at 5:15 p.m. and Green Dot Zumba at 6 p.m. in the Athletic Center. Both classes will be taught by students and will feature green giveaways and Green Dot-themed music.
- Feb. 9: Green Dot Bingo, 10 p.m. in College Center at Crozier-Williams 1962 Room. Hosted in partnership with the Office of Student Engagement, this student-only event will feature
February 1, 2017
