By Jeff Murphy,
March 2, 2016
WARRENSBURG, MO – Innovative programs such as the Green Dot Gardens, an initiative
being developed by the University of Central Missouri community in March, along with
ongoing informational sessions for faculty, staff and students, continue to grow knowledge
across UCM about the role campus members play in preventing power-based personal violence.
Green Dot, which takes a bystander intervention approach, invites everyone in the
community to be agents of change in preventing violent acts such as sexual assault,
relationship violence, domestic violence and stalking. After several months of planning
and initial staff and volunteer began in 2014, the program was officially launched
at UCM in September 2015 under the direction of the Office of Violence and Substance
Abuse Prevention (VSAP). From its beginning through January 2017, it will benefit
from nearly $156,000 in total grant support from the Missouri Department of Health
and Senior Services.
“There are a lot of people on campus who are making Green Dot successful,” said Amy
Kiger, director of VSAP.
She points out that what makes Green Dot different from other traditional gender-violence
programs is that it is focused on the majority of the population. “Although most people
will not be victims or offenders, they may have an opportunity to intervene to stop
someone else from getting hurt,” Kiger said, “and everyone has the opportunity to
send the message that violence isn’t tolerated at UCM. Green Dot helps us do that.”
Part of the effort to create change comes from Green Dot’s information programs and
innovative approaches to spreading the word about bystander intervention through opportunities
such as Green Dot Gardens. Lauri Dusselier, who became assistant director of VSAP
in October, serves as the contact person for Green Dot, and will oversee this initiative
this spring.
“During the month of March, we’ll have about 30 boxes around campus asking students,
faculty and staff, ‘What’s your Green Dot?’ They will write down on a green piece
of paper a Green Dot action they have performed. Then we’ll make their messages into
paper flowers and during Earth Week (April 18-22) we’ll plant them in Green Dot Gardens
on campus.”
Students are invited to provide messages that are both proactive and reactive. A proactive
message, for example, could be a student wearing a Green Dot pin and telling others
about this bystander intervention program. A reactive message would be any number
of activities to intervene in a situation to help prevent violence or diffuse a potentially
violent situation. This includes directly intervening such as stepping in to prevent
someone from committing a violent act, distracting a potential perpetrator, and delegating
someone to assist, such as calling police or asking others for help.
Dusselier said collection boxes for messages to be shared in the Green Dot Gardens
will be located in 12 residence halls and 18 offices in academic and administrative
buildings. She looks forward to working with the Green Team to implement this initiative
and other Green Dot activities at UCM.
“I’m very excited to be leading this effort,” Dusselier said. “We have an excellent
Green Dot team that has been very active and productive. We currently have six individuals
who facilitate Green Dot overviews and even more people who work behind the scenes.
It is a pleasure to work with the committees and promote Green Dot.”
The campus community is encouraged to schedule a Green Dot overview by visiting ucmo.edu/greendot.
During these informational sessions, faculty, staff, and student groups will learn
more about Green Dot, learn how to intervene, and be inspired to do so, Dusselier
noted.
Interested individuals can learn more about Green Dot by contacting Dusselier at 660-543-8015
or dusselier@ucmo.edu. She will receive assistance with Green Dot activities this
spring from Sara VanSteenbergen, a graduate student who works in the VSAP office.
According to Kiger, VSAP also is looking for additional faculty and staff members
who would like to serve as volunteer Green Dot facilitators to teach students bystander
intervention skills. A Green Dot facilitator interest session is planned for 3-4 p.m.
Tuesday, April 5 in Elliott Student Union 233.
Kiger also added that as participants in the nationally recognized Community Culture
of Responsible Choices Coalition (CCoRC), her office staff, as well as Jeff Huffman
from Military and Veteran Services, will be sharing their experiences with the Green
Dot program with representatives of Whiteman Air Force Base, which also plans to implement
such a program.
“We’ve already met with Whiteman leaders to talk about what we can do to help support
their implementation of Green Dot,” Kiger said.
To learn more about Green Dot facilitator sessions or other opportunities provided
by VSAP, contact Kiger at 660-543-8338 or kiger@ucmo.edu or Dusselier.
* * *
The Green Dot Program is supported by Cooperative Agreement #UF2 CE002427-02, funded
by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Missouri Department of Health
and Senior Services, Contract #AOC15380142. Its contents are soley the responsibility
of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services or
Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services. The project is 85 percent funded
with federal money and 15 percent funded with nongovernmental sources.
