Charlotte Kerrigan ‘29
Staff Writer
This month, freshmen at Holy Cross have been completing the Bringing in the Bystander training. These training sessions are led by fellow students who are Relationship Peer Educators (RPE), facilitating important conversations on what it means to be a bystander and what to do if you are one. These are interactive sessions that allow students to learn how to support others who face sexual violence, harassment, or discrimination. This training strives to create a safer and more informed campus, while directly connecting to Holy Cross’ Jesuit mission of caring for the community.
The bystander training teaches students techniques to help prevent harmful situations by teaching the four Ds: direct, delegate, distract, and delay. The sessions also help students set up expectations on what a healthy relationship looks like and the importance of establishing boundaries in all types of relationships. While a lot of the expectations apply to romantic and sexual relationships, the work applies further to friendships and even relationships with faculty. Bystander training works to engage students through being interactive and including role-playing scenarios so students can view how they would react in different situations.
For freshman Maddie Benson, who attended Bringing in the Bystander, the training was “very important for first year students and taught a lot of valuable information I did not previously know, such as the Good Samaritan Law.” The Good Samaritan Law allows protection for students who commit certain minor offenses if they call emergency services and act in good faith. Another member of the class of 2030, Jill Cole, states that a quote that stood out to her during her training is “if you see something, say something.” This highlights how the freshmen are taught that they should always speak out and help fellow students when they are in danger.
Relationship Peer Educators are student volunteers who aim to promote healthy relationships and, overall, a safer campus that is free from sexual violence. Students find this program extremely important since research has shown that students are far more likely to receive information and advice from peers, especially regarding relationships. Statistically, about 1 in 3 women, 1 in 5 men, and 1 in 2 transgender, nonbinary, and gender non-conforming individuals experience sexual violence. Relationship Peer Educators work to prevent this on campus and create a culture of healthy relationships.
Bringing in the Bystander is an important training and provides information that is good to expose first-year students to as they adjust to college life. By highlighting what a healthy relationship looks like and how to set boundaries, Relationship Peer Educators are able to set up healthy expectations of what a relationship should look like. Most importantly, the training emphasizes how to keep our community safe and how to help peers who may be in an unsafe situation. For students interested in becoming a Relationship Peer Educator, applications can be located on myHC and close on Sept. 26.
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