NEW LONDON, Conn.--For the third year in a row, the Connecticut College men's ice hockey team is raising awareness about the "Green Dot" program, a campus initiative to prevent power-based personal violence through bystander intervention.
Connecticut College is currently the only institution in the state that has implemented the Green Dot program, in which students, faculty and staff are trained to help prevent power-based personal violence, including sexual violence, domestic violence, dating violence and stalking.
To raise awareness of the program and the importance of bystander intervention, players will use Green Dot Gear. a Green Dot logo will be placed in the ice, and spectators who have completed the Green Dot training are being asked to wear their Green Dot t-shirts to Saturday night's game. During the game, fans will also have the opportunity to purchase pucks for a "Chuck a Puck" fundraiser that will benefit the Green Dot program.
Kevin Reich a senior from Montvale, N.J. is looking forward to tonight's game and raising awareness about the green dot program. "The Connecticut College Men's Ice Hockey team is excited to represent the Green Dot Program once again this Saturday night . This year's contest marks our 3rd annual Green Dot Game against Tufts, which has become a great tradition. As a team we fully support this bystander intervention program, and we have made a commitment towards making it a significant part of our team's culture. We are honored to wear the Green Dot jerseys again, and we would like to thank Coach Ward, Darcie Folsom, and Fran Shields for making this all possible. We would also like to thank SAC and SGA for donating the money that was used towards funding the t shirt green out."
"Over the past three years, Kevin Kelly and I have really enjoyed working with Darcie Folsom in order to plan this annual event," Reich said. "We are so happy that the Men's Soccer and Women's Lacrosse teams have hosted their own Green Dot games, and more importantly, adopted bystander intervention into their teams' culture. We are proud of the momentum that the Green Dot Game has generated, and we are confident that Will Leedy '15 and Tom Conlin '16 will continue this partnership for years to come."
"I cannot thank the team enough for being such an amazing supporter of our program," said Darcie Folsom, Director of Sexual Violence Prevention & Advocacy at Connecticut College. "When a couple of the players came to me two years ago to discuss their idea of sponsoring an event like this, we had no idea how successful it would be. It has become one of the Green Dot events that the students look forward to the most. That is what Green Dot is all about... creating a culture shift that is led by and for the students and I can't think of a better way than this."
The Green Dot program is part of the College's broader Think S.A.F.E. Project, managed by Darcie Folsom, director of sexual violence prevention and advocacy. Originally developed and funded in 2010 through a three-year, $300,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Justice's Office on Violence Against Women, the Think S.A.F.E. Project addresses sexual assault, dating violence and stalking by integrating prevention and response training and education into the campus culture, building a community coalition and enhancing victim services. When the three-year Department of Justice grant work was completed in 2013, the College took on this important commitment with support from College funds, and named Folsom to her current position.
