Volunteers don’t back down – they speak up.
Starting this year, UT students and staff can train to become certified “Speakologists,” or active voices against domestic violence, stalking, sexual assault and other threatening situations on campus.
These training sessions, which emphasize personal awareness and early intervention, are one facet of the newly unveiled “Volunteers Speak Up” campaign, run by the Center for Health Education and Wellness.
“It goes back to the slogan of our office: ‘Vols Help Vols,'” said Laura Bryant, assistant director of the Center for Health and Wellness. “We want to help change the community, to make it safer by teaching Volunteers how to step in and make a difference.”
Speakologist training sessions began during Welcome Week but will continue throughout the semester as free, weekly “lunch and learn” sessions. Each session will include a one-hour class, free lunch and T-shirt for those who sign up early. Private training is also available upon request.
“We believe it’s imperative to educate our students on how to play an active role in our community, and community involvement begins with awareness and action,” Bryant said.
Bryant is not alone. In response to a number of Title IX violations and mishandled sexual assault cases at major universities, the federal government pressured schools to provide better prevention education to students and staff. Jenny Richter, UT’s Title IX coordinator, oversees the university’s response to instances of sexual misconduct or discrimination.
“There is research from around the country that [preventative measures] have more effect than, say, me talking to a group of students,” Richter said. “Peer activity can be very effective. We just want to make sure that students know what to do to be active bystanders.”
The hour-long, interactive training sessions cover topics ranging from group-think and the bystander effect to specific case strategies for safe intervention on behalf of others.
Shannon Herron, a second-year graduate student in the College of Arts & Sciences and graduate assistant for the Center for Student Engagement, participated in a Welcome Week training session with other members of the Center for Student Engagement.
He noted having such a program on campus would have been helpful last year. The sessions, he believes, could even afford to be more extensive.
“Honestly, I think it could have been a little longer,” Herron said. “It’s a tough issue to talk about, but there was a lot of really great information, and at the end of it, we were all left wanting more.”
To sign up for a lunch and learn session, request a program, or learn more visit their website.
