Teal Dot Bystander Engagement Trainings
Trainings
Teal Dot Basics
This is a 90-minute program focused on how we as bystanders can recognize precursors to violence and attempt to engage everyone to intervene in practical ways to reduce or stop violence on our campuses and within our 7C community. During this training you will review different types of Power-Based Personal Violence, learn what roles bystanders play in potential high-risk situations, learn how to recognize warning signs and precursors to violence, discuss obstacles to action and how to overcome them and finally learn how to intervene as a Teal Dot Bystanders using simple and practical solutions referred to as the 3Ds. These trainings are open to all 7C students, faculty and staff members.
Teal Dot is intended to be implemented as a supplement to – not a replacement of – broader, long-term social justice, anti-oppression work on campus. As a 90-minute session this is only one piece of the puzzle. There are other programs on campus that address other issues related to sexual violence. You can find a listing of additional programs and resources on the EmPOWER Center website.
Train the Trainer
This training is for those who have been through the Basics Bystander Training and wish to become a facilitator for Teal Dot. These trainings are typically 90-minutes and open to all 7C students, faculty and staff members. Please reach out to a committee member for more information about these trainings or to request a training.
The History of Teal Dot at the Claremont Colleges
Teal Dot is a program established by and run through the 7C EmPOWER Center by Director Rima Shah who also leads the 7C Teal Dot Committee. The committee was first formed in 2012 including members from across the 7Cs. Members participated in a 5-day training for Green Dot, a national bystander engagement program. Attendees were encouraged to borrow any of the material in order to build a training that aligned with their community goals, however, if it didn’t follow the complete Green Dot curriculum, it could not be called Green Dot. So Teal Dot was formed; Teal is used in the title as an acknowledgement of sexual assault awareness and prevention month. Over the next six months the committee went through all the Green Dot materials and worked to build a 3-hour training. This first presentation was presented to ‘early adopters’, students that were campus influencers including athletes, clubs/organizations, student senate members, and others to get their feedback and start spreading the word.
The initial program which was presented in 2013 was revised post-COVID and condensed to a 90-minute program which debuted in 2022. This is the “Basics” program presented today and is targeted towards __________________ .
Evidence-Based Data and Research
In addition to updates provided by Green Dot, Teal Dot also relies on data collected across our 7C campuses to keep materials and information relevant and up to date.
In 2023 the five undergraduate colleges participated in the Higher Education Data Sharing (HEDS) Sexual Assault Campus Climate Survey (SACCS). The purpose of this anonymous and voluntary survey was to ask students, “about perceptions of their campus' climate for unwanted sexual contact and sexual assault, their perceptions of how their institution responds to sexual assaults, their experiences with interpersonal violence (stalking, dating and domestic violence), and whether and how often they have experienced unwanted sexual contact or sexual assault.” Results showed while almost 70% of students reported they intervened when witnessing a situation that could lead to a sexual assault, still over 30% did not intervene due to either not feeling safe or comfortable intervening or didn’t know what actions to take. Survey responses stated that for those who were assaulted and bystanders were present, the majority of time the target reported the bystander did not intervene. When asked who students felt most comfortable reporting a sexual assault to the top three responses were close friend, roommate, and romantic partner.
Teal Dot additionally collects data from participants through pre and post session surveys. Data from these surveys is collected and analyzed every few years, the most recent being the 2022-2023 academic year after the release of the new Basics program. From this data the Committee was able to glean how effective the Basics program is. Responses rose post-training from 26% to 62% as very likely to intervene when participants observed a situation that potentially led to power-based personal violence. Confidence rates rose from ~23% to 82% feeling very and extremely confident post training when participants were asked about their ability to intervene in situations of observed power-based personal violence.
The Committee uses this data not only to update the current program to meet the needs of the community but has also included it within our program to help educate participants with relevant feedback in the hope to encourage them as the difference-makers, or active bystanders, in our 7C community.
Teal Dot Committee Members
Committee members are voluntary members from across the 7Cs. The Committee meets biweekly during the academic year to plan trainings, discuss feedback and work to improve the trainings based on the 7C community’s needs.
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Rima Shah, Director of the EmPOWER Center, Scripps
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Moya Carter, TCCS
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Shelby Yung, Pomona
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Bri Sérráno, Pomona
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Cynthia Flores, Pomona
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Veronica Clairmont, HMC
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Logan McVaugh, HMC
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Jesse Purcell, CMC
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Chantal Izaguirre, CMC
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Mayra Mendoza, Scripps
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Tina Johnson, CGU
More information and Resources
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For questions about the Teal Dot program please reach out to Rima Shah.
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For a list of upcoming trainings please see the EmPOWER Center Instagram page, or reach out to any of the committee members.
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The Empower Center Instagram Page: @empowercenterclaremont
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If you would like to request a training for a group or club, please reach out to one of the committee member representatives for your college or Rima Shah.
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For more information about the Green Dot Program: https://alteristic.org/green-dot/