UW Green Dot Program Finalist for National Campus Safety Award

Green Dot -- the University of Wyoming’s bystander intervention program -- was among four finalists for the Clery Center’s 2023 Campus Safety Impact Award.

The award highlights a program or initiative at an institution of higher education that demonstrates innovation, collaboration and equity in enhancing safety on campus. Programs can include a long-standing or recently developed program or initiative that contributes to creating safer campus communities.

UW’s Green Dot program is committed to reducing and preventing power-based personal violence such as sexual assault, relationship violence and stalking.

The Student Affairs Case Management Services program at the University of California-San Diego was the eventual winner.

The Campus Safety Impact Award committee said this about UW’s Green Dot program:

“University of Wyoming leaders decided they needed to dedicate resources to violence prevention after a 2018 campus climate survey indicated higher than average rates of sexual assault on their campus. They instituted the Green Dot and Violence Prevention Program, a bystander intervention program that equips all campus community members with the skills to recognize sexual assault, dating violence and stalking; provides ways to safely intervene; and encourages cultural buy-in through extensive marketing and branding of the Green Dot logo. The program has proven successful -- even accounting for the effects of the pandemic, the campus has seen a 10-20 percent reduction in sexual assaults and similar or greater reductions for stalking, intimate partner violence and sexual harassment.”

Being a finalist for the Clery Center’s Campus Safety Impact Award affirms that the Green Dot’s team and UW are on the right track when it comes to violence prevention efforts and creating a safer campus environment, says Libby Thorson, UW assistant dean of students.

“Our team has worked hard since January 2020 to ensure that Green Dot is successful and to reduce the rates of harm happening in our community,” Thorson says. “The program has thrived with the support and buy-in from so many individual students, student organizations and employees. It is heartening to see the Green Dot logo on water bottles, backpacks and T-shirts across campus and to hear stories of students doing reactive Green Dots in concerning situations.”

This fall, the team implemented an overview session for incoming freshmen as part of Saddle Up and received positive feedback.

“Preventing these types of incidents aids in the retention and success of our students,” Thorson adds.

Green Dot training sessions for faculty and staff are about 90 minutes in length. The student training sessions are three hours, and overview sessions last between 30-60 minutes. UW has Green Dot instructors who include faculty and staff within the Division of Student Affairs, Athletics, ROTC and the Learning Resource Network (LeaRN) program.

For more information, and for a list of Green Dot training sessions, go to www.uwyo.edu/greendot.

About the Clery Center

The Clery Center is a national nonprofit dedicated to helping college and university officials meet the standards of the Jeanne Clery Act, which requires campus crime reporting. By equipping professionals with the training and resources they need to understand compliance requirements, the center strives to make campus safety a universal reality.

The Clery Act requires colleges and universities to report campus crime data, support victims of violence and publicly outline the policies and procedures they have put into place to improve campus safety.