ODU Staffers Certified as Green Dot Violence-Free Campus Instructors

October 22, 2015

ODU's newly trained Green Dot instructors

Early this month, 30 Old Dominion University staffers completed four days of Green Dot training that positions these now-certified instructors to launch a campus-wide campaign to reduce sexual assault, dating violence and stalking.

The Green Dot Strategy works to establish two cultural norms on college campuses: one, that power-based personal violence will not be tolerated; and two, that everyone has a role in maintaining a safe campus.

By providing faculty and staff, who work closely with student leaders, the tools to encourage bystander intervention and intolerance of violence, many crimes can be prevented. With this approach to shifting campus culture, students can be influenced to move from passive agreement that violence is wrong to active intervention.

This violence prevention strategy, originally developed at the University of Kentucky, has been employed across the nation in both high schools and higher education settings. It employs a public health approach to violence prevention and a CDC study of the program in 2014 found a 50 percent reduction in sexual violence at high schools with Green Dot.

"We all have an opportunity to replace moments that may lead to violence with moments of support and safety," said Don Stansberry, dean of student affairs. "The Green Dot program is designed to bring us together as a community to serve as engaged and proactive bystanders to make the world safer. A green dot is taking action."

For more information, visit the Green Dot website or contact Wendi White at the ODU Women's Center: wewhite@odu.edu or 683-4109.