| UCER | For Immediate Release |
| Drew Wilson, Director, Media Relations | |
| 412.578.2095 (phone) | |
| 412.260.6807 (cell) | |
| 412.578.2080 (fax) | |
| agwilson@carlow.edu |
Carlow University Hosts Bystander Awareness Program for Women’s History Month
Jane Stapelton, Co-Director of Prevention Innovations, to Speak about Preventing Sexual Assault
Pittsburgh, Pa. – In celebration of Women’s History Month, Carlow University will host Jane Stapelton, MA, co-director of Prevention Innovations at the University of New Hampshire, whose presentation is titled “My Sisters’ and Brothers’ Keepers: Building a Safer Campus and Community,” at 4 p.m. on Wednesday, March 26, 2014, in Kresge Theatre, located on the fifth floor of Grace Library on the Carlow campus. The program is free and open to the public.
Stapelton, who was featured in a February New York Times’ article, is the lead developer and evaluation of Know Your PowerTM, a bystander awareness social marketing campaign. She will introduce Bystander Awareness to the Carlow community, a program that shows bystanders how they can help prevent sexual assault from happening.
Stapelton’s program is based not so much on confrontation, but on creating a diversion to outmaneuver an aggressor. “We’re not looking to create Captain Bystander here,” she told the New York Times. Instead, when Bystander Awareness works well, the aggressor’s attention is drawn away from the target. At a party, this might be done by turning on the house lights or turning off the music. Anything that breaks the focus of the aggressor can be a diversion.
“With training and preparation, we can help one another prevent violence against women and men,” said Katie Hogan, PhD, director of Women’s Studies at Carlow. “We want to help students, faculty, and staff learn how to speak up and prevent violence in the community and on campus.”
The program is sponsored by the Carlow University Women’s Studies Program and the Office of Diversity Initiatives in the Center for Mercy Heritage, and is being co-sponsored by Chatham University.
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Editor’s Note: The news media is welcome to cover Jane Stapelton’s presentation on Bystander Awareness. To arrange convenient, free parking, please call Drew Wilson at (412) 578-2095 or on his cell phone at (412) 260-6807.
About Carlow University
Located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Carlow University was founded by the Sisters of Mercy in 1929. Offering both undergraduate and graduate programs, Carlow University is a comprehensive master’s institution dedicated to learner-centered education at the collegiate levels and at the laboratory school level in the Campus School of Carlow University, which teaches students from birth to age 14.