Anyone who has witnessed a violent scene and didn’t know what to do could find answers in St. Thomas’ new violence prevention strategy, Green Dot.

Green Dot is an idea that will be taught to students at St. Thomas. It encourages students to act if they see a potentially violent situation to help defuse any possible violence (including sexual assault, domestic violence, harassment, bullying, etc.) on campus. The program will launch in April, and according to its leaders, hopefully become viral among students.

Debra Broderick, a St. Thomas psychologist who is heading the Green Dot initiative at the university, said Green Dot’s goal of addressing the bystander in violent situations is unique.

“For every act of violence … there are all these people around it who see it; they are bystanders,” Broderick said. “The Green Dot strategy wants to harness the power of all these people to interrupt these moments of violence that happen on our campus and in surrounding areas.”

Senior Katie Bromback said a program aimed at bystanders would be beneficial to the St. Thomas community.

“I think education is probably the first step because people don’t know what to do if they see something, and maybe they just assume someone else will step in,” Bromback said.

Sophomore Elise Guenther said focusing on bystander education may be better than other violence prevention programs.

“I think bystander education would be more beneficial (than other programs) because you’re probably more likely to be in that situation,” Guenther said.

Broderick said another way to think of the strategy is by picturing a map of St. Thomas and the surrounding community.

“Every act of violence … is a red dot (on the map), and the more that happens, the bigger they grow,” Broderick said. “But every time somebody steps in, or speaks out, or does something to reduce the violence or reduce those incidents, those are green dots.”

Freshman Colin McGlennen said education could really help bystanders who aren’t sure what to do.

“There’s always situations that you could use a little advice,” McGlennen said.

Green Dot’s goal is to eventually eliminate the presence of red dots on campus.

“One of the hopes of Green Dot strategy is that eventually there are so many green dots and people believe in the green dots, that that becomes the cultural norm,” Broderick said, “that we create a campus of complete intolerance of violence in any form.”

St. Thomas is not the only school who will be implementing this program come spring. Broderick said other MCTC schools, including Macalester, have decided to introduce Green Dot to their campuses, too

One of the unique things about Green Dot is that it has no formal program guidelines. Broderick said the Green Dot strategy is to provide students with the tools they need to be green dots on campus, and then rely on those students to spread the word about the program.

“The power of it is that it is more word of mouth, and that it is more organic,” Broderick said. “Students may not notice some kind of big event, and they won’t notice green dots all over the place, but that’s because we want this to be student-driven.”

Broderick said along with launching the website, the committee plans on holding two Bystander Training Sessions for 15-20 St. Thomas students. The sessions will give students the tools they need to be green dots and help them spread the word about the program to other students.

Broderick also said the Green Dot committee is looking to give short-program introductions to students in classrooms, clubs, organizations and athletic teams. The program will also be implemented at freshman orientation sessions this summer.

Another aspect of Green Dot that makes it stand out is its devotion to education equality, one of the only violence prevention strategies of its kind.

“A lot of the violence prevention programs have focused on the experience of women, which is right, women are unfortunately victims of personal violence on a higher level, much more than men can be, but men are not immune to this,” Broderick said. “The great thing about Green Dot is we are targeting everyone.”

Although St. Thomas may seem like a safe campus, Broderick said violence is a problem everywhere, something she witnesses as a psychologist on campus.

“Every year … students come who have been victims of some sort of power-based personal violence, and it just keeps happening,” Broderick said. “Sometimes I’d find myself feeling a little hopeless in terms of how it could stop.”

McGlennen said despite the fact that he has always felt safe on campus, he understands the need for violence prevention.

“I’ve always felt safe, but I’m also 6 feet 6 inches tall,” McGlennen said. “But being in the city, guy or girl, if you are by yourself it could be a little unsafe.”

Anyone can be a green dot on campus, Broderick said.

“One of the things I like about Green Dot is one of the mantras is ‘No Personal Growth Required,’” Broderick said. “You don’t have to become a more assertive person. You don’t have to become a more activist person. You can be the same person you are now, but suddenly you become aware of opportunities to do more green dots.”

Gabrielle Martinson can be reached at mart5649@stthomas.edu.