Susquehanna’s Violence Intervention & Prevention (VIP) Center leads violence prevention, survivor support and campus safety efforts. Through workshops and awareness programs, the center promotes healthy relationships, bystander intervention and violence prevention across campus.
For survivors, the VIP Center provides confidential support, advocacy and counseling in partnership with Transitions of PA. Located in the lower-level of Blough-Weis Library, it offers resources for those affected by sexual misconduct or gender-based violence — whether on campus, off campus or before arriving at Susquehanna.
Commitment to Campus Safety
With support from three Department of Justice grants, Susquehanna has expanded training, resources and prevention programs to enhance campus safety and support survivors. We support all survivors. It’s up to all of us to #ProtectTheNest.
Susquehanna has received Department of Justice grants to enhance campus safety and support survivors. The university was recently awarded an additional $375,000 to continue its work preventing sexual assault and relationship violence on campus. This funding builds on the 2018 and 2020 grants from the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office on Violence Against Women, further strengthening prevention efforts and survivor support.
Seal of Prevention Recipient
Susquehanna University is a recipient of the Campus Prevention Network Seal of Prevention for demonstrating a commitment to digital prevention programs tied to student safety, well-being and inclusion.
Susquehanna was recognized for taking action to create a safer, more inclusive campus through comprehensive, evidence-based digital prevention education on issues such as sexual assault, alcohol misuse, mental health and discrimination.
Healthy relationships, bystander intervention and digital safety are at the core of prevention efforts. All new students complete online training modules on:
Alcohol education, sexual assault prevention, diversity, equity and inclusion and mental well-being
To schedule a workshop, visit the Student Support tile on myNest.
Awareness Initiatives
Campus-wide programs focus on violence prevention, safety awareness and reducing relationship abuse through events such as:
Sexual Assault Awareness Month in April and Domestic Violence Awareness Month in October
Interactive workshops, film screenings and guest speakers
Take Back the Night, an event for reclaiming community and safety at night
For more events, visit the Student Support tile on myNest.
Get Involved
Join the conversation on preventing gender-based violence by following the VIP Center on Instagram and speaking up against sexual misconduct myths. Participate in awareness events such as Stalking Awareness Month in January, Sexual Assault Action Month in April and Domestic Violence Awareness Month in October.
Register for bystander intervention training, encourage student organizations to host training or volunteer at the VIP Center. Apply for internships or leadership roles and consider focusing academic research on gender-based violence.
Primary Prevention
The VIP Center learns into primary prevention education, which means we instill our students with opportunities to learn and gain skills for situations before they happen. Practicing Bystander Intervention methods before we need them, allows us to be prepared to step in when see a need.
How to Get Involved
Stop by the VIP Center or keep up with the monthly Stall Seat Journal found in campus bathrooms to learn about upcoming events and training opportunities.
Green Dot Bystander Intervention
Launched in 2020, Green Dot is a campus-wide violence prevention program aimed at reducing dating violence, stalking and sexual assault.
Sign up for Green Dot Training, discuss intervention techniques in student organizations and volunteer at campus events. Faculty and staff can also join the implementation team and encourage students to participate.
Green Dot
A moment in time where someone’s words, choices or actions reduce the likelihood that someone will be harmed by violence or proactively communicate an intolerance for violence.
Red Dot
A moment in time where someone’s words, choices or actions contribute to power-based personal violence in some way.
Examples:
The choice to have sex with someone without their consent.
The choice to continue to text/call/message someone after being asked to stop.
The choice to physically harm another person.
Proactive vs. Reactive
Reactive Green Dots are things that are done in response to a potential red dot.
Examples:
The choice to directly ask a friend to stop incessantly texting an ex.
The choice to create a distraction by setting off a car alarm in a parking lot where one person is screaming at another in an intimidating manner.
The choice to call on a friend or peer to help you get a friend to safety that is being bothered at a party.
Proactive Green Dots are things you can do every day in your life that express your commitment to Green Dot and ending violence on our campus.
Examples:
The choice to post a message on social media about why bystander intervention is important.
The choice to encourage friends to attend a Green Dot training.
The choice to role model to incoming students and peers that power-based personal violence is not okay with you.
Direct
Directly inserting yourself into a potential red dot situation and stopping it by addressing those who are involved.
Examples:
Asking someone who seems uncomfortable or unsure if they are ok.
Checking in with someone who appears overly intoxicated and offering to get them home safely
Telling your friends that you think their joke about sexual assault is offensive.
Delegate
If you feel unsafe or uncomfortable stepping in yourself, getting someone to intervene for you who might be more equipped or better able to handle the situation.
Examples:
Call a nearby authority figure (professor, RA, staff member, etc.) and ask them to help.
If it’s not an emergency and you want to report anonymously: fill out a CARE form, Sexual Misconduct and Gender-Based Violence form, or Bias Incident Reporting Form.
Ask a person’s roommate if everything is okay because they are missing class.
Ask a friend of the person potentially being or doing the harm to help intervene and check on them.
Distract
Defusing a potential red dot by distracting those involved and interrupting the choice to make a red dot.
Examples:
Breaking up a heated argument by pretending your phone battery is dead and asking to borrow someone’s in the argument
Accidentally spilling a drink on the guy who keeps forcing your drunk friend to dance with him.
Setting off your car alarm in a parking lot where two people are fighting.
Understanding Consent & Gender-Based Violence
Learn more about consent, healthy relationships and gender-based violence through the One Love Foundation, National Domestic Violence Hotline and Love Is Respect. For additional support, visit the VIP Center or explore resources online.
Bystander: Anyone in the community who sees or hears about a behavior that could lead to something high risk or harmful. Every bystander faces the same choice, “Do I get involved and try to make things better, or do I ignore the situation?”
Power-Based Personal Violence: Forms of violence that use power, control and/or intimidation in order to harm another.
Stalking: A course of conduct directed at a specific person that would cause a reasonable person to feel fear.
Dating/Domestic Violence: A pattern of abusive behavior in any relationship that is used by one partner to gain or maintain power and control over another intimate partner. Dating/Domestic violence can be physical, sexual, emotional, economic or psychological actions or threats that influence another person.
Sexual Assault: Any type of sexual contact or behavior that occurs without the explicit consent of the recipient.
Barriers: Things that stop us from getting involved. Barriers can be social, relationship, personal or physical.
