New campaign to stop sexual violence

There's a girl walking alone in the Logan Neighborhood at night. Red dot. There's a nasty fight between a boyfriend and a girlfriend. Red dot. There's a man trying to take advantage of a woman who has had too much to drink. Red dot.

Red dots are "potentially hazardous situations," said John Van Sant, the director of campus public safety and security. "The reality is that we all make mistakes."

Despite the reality of red dots, there are also green dots.

The Green Dot Campaign is a program started by Dorothy Edwards, and attempts to lessen the prominence of sexual violence and has been already implemented at many colleges across the country, including Vanderbilt University and the University of Louisville.

Student Wellness Resource Center Program Coordinator Jill Royston started this campaign at Gonzaga, stressing the importance of the "active bystander." This is the idea that if a person sees a "red dot" that they can somehow do something to avert the situation. Royston describes the options of the active bystander as "the three D's."

There is the direct approach, which involves talking to the person in the potentially hazardous situation. Then there is the delegating approach, where the bystander delegates actions to another, such as a resident assistant, resident director, Campus Security, Saferide, or even a bouncer at a bar. The last approach would be to distract. Royston gave the example of telling someone that their car is being towed in order to pull them away.

"It's just part of what we can do as a culture change to stop being numb to violence and checking in with each other," Royston said.

Royston emphasizes that it is not necessary to go out of our comfort zone to achieve green dots, but it can all start between friends.

"It's just saying I'm not going to sit back and let someone harm the people I love," Royston said. "It is about preventing something worse from happening."

To get this mindset to the Gonzaga community, a facilitator training was held this summer for many Gonzaga faculty and staff and three students.

Senior Avriel Burlot attended the training and hopes that the campaign is well received.

"I think the whole concept of sexual violence is so unknown and there are a lot of clear warning signs," Burlot said. "If people are more aware and know how to handle the situation it could be really beneficial."

To make students more aware, a Green Dot Campaign program called Real World Gonzaga will be replacing Sex Signals during orientation week. There will also be a table at club fair with G+ and a final unveiling of the program on Sept. 12. Also by this date, the official website and Facebook page will be established.

"This semester is more about awareness," Royston said.

At the end of the fall semester and beginning of the spring semester, bystander training will begin. This way, students can be more in charge of running the program on campus.

Both Van Sant and Royston think it will be a good program for Gonzaga because it already fits with Jesuit ideals.

"It is already inherent in what we do, practice, and want our students to be in this community of love and care for one another and the whole person," Royston said.

Royston hopes that the end result is Gonzaga students taking this with them into the real world and challenging others to do the same.