Matt Nickerson ‘24
Chief Features Editor
This past Sunday, February 4th, Riley Peck ‘24 offered a training session on “Bringing in the Bystander” for RSO Leaders. A second session will be taking place on February 12th. Through offering these sessions to a representative of each RSO, it is hoped that they will “develop skills to be a responsible contributor to our campus community and cultivate senses to the responsibilities of bystanders at Holy Cross” (2-4-2024).
Riley serves as the Director of Sexual Respect and Awareness for the SGA, as well as a Relationship Peer Educator (RPE). “It was a great way to combine my roles,” she says. As an RPE, she helps provide support and education in order to prevent sexual violence on campus. In her SGA role, Riley is a liaison to Jillian Kelly, the Assistant Director of Prevention and Education at the Office of Title IX and Equal Opportunity, and assists with student matters rather than any official hearings. Reflecting on the roles and leaders associated with the SGA, Riley explains that it can be “hard to know which hat to wear” between her two roles, but that access to both makes it easier for her to collaborate for others– such as consulting with Health Services. Furthermore, with the initiative of “Bringing in the Bystander,” Riley found it beneficial to be part of both the RPEs and the SGA. She already had a connection with Patrick Rogers and the Office of Student Involvement, but she was able to help facilitate the session, along with three other RPEs.
The “Bringing in the Bystander” training that Riley provided to RSO leaders was developed by the University of New Hampshire, which was later implemented at Holy Cross in 2014 by a grant from the Department of Justice. In 2018, Elizabeth Inman ‘15, a psychology major, and professors Stephanie Chaudoir, Paul Gavenhill, and Ann Sheehy published a study in the Journal of Social and Political Psychology, “The effectiveness of the Bringing in the Bystander™ program among first-year students at a religiously-affiliated liberal arts college”, which empirically confirmed that use of the UNH model reduced issues at Holy Cross. “It helps make our community a safer place,” Riley says. This semester, she proposed holding such sessions intended for RSO captains and leaders to Caitlin MacNeil, the Associate Director for Leadership Development. There were no incidents that compelled the use of these sessions– in fact, attendance is highly encouraged rather than mandatory– but Riley considered that the upperclassmen RSO had never received in-person bystander training as freshmen usually do. While freshmen do online and in-person training, due to the pandemic, the class of 2024 and 2025 were only required to complete the Everfi online courses. Consequently, Riley thought it would be a good idea to give upperclassmen updated training, and compensate for COVID.
“If you have a leadership role, you might notice those things that faculty members wouldn’t,” Riley says, citing the example of sports captains holding mixers and other off-campus events (she herself is captain of the club field hockey team). “It’s important to know and identify problematic situations, and how to support them and direct them to resources.” She remarks that the first session went really well, and jokes that the leaders were much more engaged participants than the usual freshmen audience. Looking forward to the session of the 12th, Riley shares that Jill Kelly updated one of the harmful scenarios used to better reflect a scenario one of the leaders may find themselves in, and make it more applicable. (Jill is “super involved with her work, responsive, and encouraging with her ideas,” Riley adds). The link to register for the second session next week is on myHC. Riley hopes more sessions will happen in the future, drily notes that she hopes more sign up for the next session– one lucky RSO group represented at both sessions, who demonstrate responsibility and accountability in their leadership by participating, will be given a $100 surplus to their organization’s budget.
Featured Image Courtesy of myHC
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