According to the National Institute of Justice, most sexual assaults occurring in colleges go unreported and unpunished. It has been reported that 70% of victims do not inform the police of incidents that take place.
Ideally, the 24-hour campus security services are very efficient; however, it is essential that faculty, staff and students follow the core values of Saint Leo University since everyone plays a pivotal role in protecting the community.
As an additional measure, Saint Leo University has implemented the Green Dot program, which has made successful progress in their four years of service in protecting the community as it relates to violence and sexual assaults.
The primary focus of Green Dot is one of the few violence prevention programs on campus seeking to prevent the rates of perpetration, sexual assaults, domestic violence, and stalking. Additionally, Green Dot serves as a way for individuals to become aware that violence should in no way be tolerated, further informing them that everyone can assist in eradicating violence.
Green Dot Coordinator Ms. Aubrey Hall, explained that the Green Dot organization was funded by the Florida Department of Health. When the organizers applied, they gained access to implement the program enabling them to be approved for a five-year grant.
Hall further stated that there were three tracks that their agency could choose from to set up shop which included community colleges, or high school based tracks. As a result of their closely- knitted ties with Saint Leo University and their desire to work with college students, they chose the college track.
Hall and her Green Dot agency made this decision based upon the realization that college students are reported to have a higher risk of incidents of sexual violence and assaults, dating violence, and stalking.
The purpose of Green Dot at Saint Leo University is to engage and empower a community of bystanders to not only recognize power-based violence, such as dating violence, domestic violence, sexual assault and stalking, but also to provide tools for intervention.
The program will enable the community to intervene if they see any of these actions taking place, thus instilling social norms of a non-tolerant power-base violence community. Additionally, it will provide a foundation for individuals visiting or incoming students at Saint Leo to know that this is a community that have zero tolerance for violence.
Above all, within the four years Green Dot has been implemented at Saint Leo, they have made exceptional accomplishments and created numerous ways of promoting the program. According to Hall, there has been a total of 300 individuals that were trained, such as staff and students, with the majority being students.
Some programs that Green Dot has launched include “Connecting the Dots” that began this semester. This program is an eight-week long program promoting and engaging students in the knowledge of relationships, social norms, and social media.
The use of pop culture is used in this program, so that it can be more relatable to students. For example, this year February, there was a discussion called “Cuffing season,” which sought to define what relationships are. As well as “Thank you…Next,” that talked about breakups and makeups. Thank you next focused on couples who broke up, explaining steps of breakups and how to recognize concerning behavior in a relationship.
Another success story of Green Dot is that for the past 3 years, the staff had the opportunity to train all Resident Assistants on campus, rendering all RA’s Green Dot certified. To be Green Dot certified, one must attend the “By- stander training,” which is typically around the awareness months. These include October, which is domestic violence month, April, which is sexual assault awareness month, as well as few others throughout the year.
Likewise, Green Dot has taken awareness to the athletic sector of the university. Last year, the staff trained three athletic teams namely: the women’s lacrosse, volleyball team, and basketball team. Hall explained that one of Green Dots’ main concerns is to work with seniors, training them and bestowing a graduation cord when completed.
Additionally, working closely with seniors provides them with life skills that will enable them to take Green Dot beyond the University. Destiney Bailey, a graduating senior studying Bio-Medical and Health Science and an RA, said that Green Dot was very helpful to her both as a student and an RA. She learned that violence is intolerable, and that she can play a part in violence prevention wherever she goes based on the knowledge she achieved from Green Dot.
Similarly, Ms. Maeisha McDermott, a graduating senior also studying Bio- Medical and Health Sciences, stated that she thought Green Dot was very effective for her and the students at Saint Leo University. McDermott views Green Dot as a way students can gain knowledge and tools to identify harmful situations and make a difference. McDermott intends to use strategies that she has learned from Green Dot training in real life situations. She stated that she will use simple distraction, direction, and delegation through all RED Dot situations.
As the semester comes to an end, April is sexual assault awareness month and Green Dot hosted various activities. The biggest event for the month was the culmination of all their activities the annual “Take back the campus,” held on April 10. Over the past years, this event has drawn a lot of students to participate, this year was no different. The event consisted of 25 tables where students could participate in activities that promote appropriate behaviors when confronted with inappropriate ones, further solidifying what actions should be taken, but also allowing attendees to obtain tickets to win prizes.
