On Wed. April 11, Green Dot, Counseling & Prevention, and Student Activities collaborated with Sunrise of Pasco to host Saint Leo’s annual “Take Back the Campus” event. This event takes place each April, which is Sexual Assault Awareness month.
During this event, many organizations on campus came up with different activities that would ensure that every student would participate and learn something useful, most importantly how to be a green dot bystander. A green dot bystander is an individual who does something to help decrease the chance of an act of sexual violence, also known as a “red dot situation.”
Magdala Saint-Louis, who is the Green Dot Facilitator on campus, is one of those who helped organized the event outside of the Student Activities Building. This year’s “Take Back the Campus” garnered over 150 students, staff, and faculty members.
“The importance of doing the event was mostly to raise awareness for Sexual Assault in general, and to show support to all of the survivors of sexual assault,” said Saint-Louis. “A big part of the event was the activities because all of them were geared toward educating people about sexual assault whether it was some statistics or maybe if they wrote something to a survivor.”
This event is taking place on campus to educate students about sexual violence. There were many shocking facts presented to students, such as biomedical and health sciencs major Alacia Drummond, whobelieves that it is essential to bring awareness of the theme to all students on campus.
“I learned so much from these activities,” said Drummond. “As an on-campus student, I learned that I should speak out against sexual violence and be a bystander for those in need no matter how simple their situation.”
There were few prizes for students to win through raffles. Drummond was among the lucky winners.
“I won a self-care basket,” Drummond exclaimed. “It was very unexpected, and I was excited”.
“Take Back the Campus” is not only hosted to give prizes but to make sure everyone who participates can differentiate between a Green Dot bystander and a passive bystander. Also, they will be able to know how to take action when a sexual violence situation occurs.
“I think most of what we did was continuing that awareness that’s why we partnered with Sunrise of Pasco, so we had them come to be a part of it and to show that we support survivors through both our agency and Green Dot,” said Saint-Louis.
Awareness is not only about addressing sexual assault and supporting survivors, but also being able to know how to prevent Sexual Violence. What can we do to stop violence? A big part of prevention is education. The goal is also to inform the students that Green Dot is here and care for all of them.
“The more people understand, the more they can be a part of being proactive,” said Pierre-Louis.
Sexual Violence is not limited only to women, but to everyone from any race, sex, background, political, religious persuasion, economic ability, and status. It ican also effect any member of the LGBTQ community, which is the reason Prism (a club for the LGBTQ students on campus) was also tabling at the event.
In case of an emergency regarding a violence case, report to any of those numbers below:
- Sunrise of Pasco: 352-521-3120
- Saint Leo University Counseling & Prevention Services: 352-588-8199
- National Domestic Violence Hotline: 800-799-7233
- 211
Saint Leo University Green Dot office: x7365
Also to stay connected with Green Dot and stay informed about their events, follow them on social media.
Facebook: Green Dot at Saint Leo
Instagram: @greendotleo
Twitter: @GreenDotLeo
