For 25 years, has provided confidential advocacy to students, faculty and staff who have been impacted by interpersonal violence, sexual assault and stalking, in addition to providing prevention education.

UofL News talked with PEACC Director Tish Pletcher, who has been with the organization 10 years, about how PEACC continues to make a positive impact on the campus community.

UofL News: How would you define the core mission of PEACC?

Pletcher: We say our mission to pursue excellent and inclusive service has two primary parts: First, we work to endĚýpower-based personal violenceĚýby providing the campus community with the tools and support to make that happen through the programming. Second, we advocate for anyone affected by sexual assault, partner violence and stalking on individual, organizational and public levels through our services. With statistics like 1:3, 1:4 and 1:10, all of us know people affected by power-based personal violence.

UofL News: For 25 years, PEACC has been there for staff, faculty and students who need assistance. What kind of changes have been the most significant in that time?ĚýHow has the issue evolved?

Pletcher: Our vision and mission have remained consistent, but our work is deepening.ĚýWith our intervention, we are moving beyond crisis response to include multiple doors of access for survivors to address their trauma. We offer trauma informed yoga, meditation walks, writing workshops, a survivor network – you name it!ĚýThese are all research-based approaches that might be helpful to a survivor after assault or intimate partner violence. It’s our job to offer as many of these as possible.

One way the issue itself has evolved is that we are no longer just talking about the violence, but all the life factors that a person might face with this issue.

UofL News: Prevention education programming is a core aspect of PEACC. Can you tell us more about prevention efforts and how allies can help in those efforts?Ěý

Pletcher: We have shifted our focus from the victim and perpetrator to bystanders. We teach students, faculty and staff to recognize warning signs of intimate partner violence, stalking and sexual assault, and how they can respond. That might be to directly check in with a person, cause a distraction in the moment, or even delegate to someone else. It doesn’t matter what a person does; it just matters that they do something. If we as bystanders know what to do to step in and intervene, we can significantly impact the rates of violence on our campus.

UofL News: What societal or political factors affect the issue of interpersonal violence?

Pletcher: Funding. Resources. Politics and policies. Systems change (or lack thereof). Oppression in all its forms. I could go on and on.

UofL News: What is still disheartening? What is encouraging?Ěý

Pletcher: It is disheartening every time another person walks in for services, and to hear the stories of people continuing to hurt other people.ĚýWhat’s encouraging is seeing all the people on campus who say “I want to help, I believe in doing my part, and I’m here for it.” Seeing them come out to a Green Dot Dodgeball Contest, join Men of PEACC for a Lunch & Learn, invite us to their RSO, walk a friend or classmate into our office to talk to an advocate. It makes my heart happy.

Another encouragement is the survivors who walk through our doors.ĚýThey never, ever cease to amaze me. I learn something from them every day and I’m a better human being because of them.ĚýThey make PEACC what it is.

“It seemed like something really important to be educated about,” said Meadows, a student success ambassador with UofL’s Student Success Center.

A comprehensive strategy called focuses on preventing sexual violence, dating violence and stalking. Changing campus norms by empowering bystanders to take action is a big part of the program’s goal, says Kathleen Elsherif, program coordinator for Green Dot and the .

“Combating power-based personal violence is a public health issue, and we all have a role to play. Green Dot gives faculty, staff and students shared language and a shared understanding of the small choices we can each make every day to change our culture – we say that no one has to do everything, but everyone has to do something,” Elsherif said.

A key component of creating this community is through campus-wide campaigns, mobilization events and targeted bystander intervention trainings that teach the model: direct, distract or delegate. A direct intervention involves a bystander confronting a situation to stop it, the second strategy aims to create some type of distraction to diffuse what’s happening, while delegating enlists the help of someone else, perhaps a friend or if necessary, police.

“The main takeaway from the training for me is whether I use my voice, behavior or attitude to promote safety it doesn’t matter – what matters is that I step up and help those around me,” said Meadows, an early elementary education major.

It’s been seven years since Green Dot trainings have been offered at UofL, as additional campus buy-in and resources were needed to continue and upscale the initiative. When the program relaunched this past spring semester, Elsherif says they started with student influencers, which included Meadows.

This fall,Ěý have been extended to individual schools and departments, along with faculty and staff. Although the PEACC Center manages the program, there are now more than 20 members of the Green Dot initiative across UofL’s campuses.

“It is so important to become aware of the Green Dot initiative because in college we sometimes find ourselves or others in uncomfortable and maybe toxic situations. If you know about Green Dot, then you might have ways to get out of those situations,” Meadows said. “The training can give you some great tips and resources to use for yourself or to help others.”

Gunshot wound survivors Sheronda Morris Jasper, Cierra Twyman Miller and Dionte Reed shared their stories and personal words of thanks to the nurses and physicians for the care that allowed each of them, as well as thousands of other victims of violence, to recover from their wounds.

“We appreciate you putting your blessed hands on us. You put us back together piece by piece, hoping for us to have a better life,” Jasper said. “You put your life aside to make sure our wounds are healed.”

Kimberly Denzik, MSN, RN, trauma program manager, accepted the “Healing & Compassion Award” on behalf of the trauma outreach team. Brian Harbrecht, MD, UofL Hospital trauma medical director, accepted the “Endless Stairway Award” on behalf of the trauma surgeons.

Christopher 2X Game Changers, a foundation established by 2X to reduce crime through educational opportunities, had the awards specially designed for the UofL teams.

“We have witnessed the power of the healing hands of the UofL trauma surgeons and the caring hearts of the trauma outreach team,” 2X said. “These people have helped save thousands of lives that could have been lost to violence in Metro Louisville and beyond.”

Check out video from the event:Ěý

Billie Castle and Gabe Jones, graduate research assistants with YVPRC, shared the group’s three-year social norming campaign kicked off last month and aimed at reducing youth violence in Louisville. The media/social media campaign focuses on practicingĚý and is aimed at reducing violence by opposing the perception that violence is normal, accepted and expected, particularly among African American youth.

Master P, a rap artist who is part of violence prevention work in Louisville and New Orleans, hosted a and the Hope NOLA Celebrity Basketball Game during the . He invited the family of Dequante Hobbs Jr., the slain 7-year-old from Louisville, along with the facilitators of the Louisville Dirt Bowl to take part in the rally.

“We were at Dirt Bowl this past weekend and they were excited about our message and gear and asked if they could take our campaign materials to promote what we’re doing here in Louisville while they are in New Orleans,” said Monique Ingram, MPH, director of the Youth Violence Prevention Research Center. “Participating in this event will be a great opportunity to spread the message, extend partnerships and get more people talking about how important it is to address youth violence at multiple levels, particularly paying attention to social conditions that make violence more likely.”

Castle and Jones represented the YVPRC at the rally, distributing campaign materials, promoting the campaign message and sharing the experience via , and . They also exchanged ideas about strategies for reducing violence and developed partnerships with individuals involved in similar work in New Orleans.

“I hope we can connect the efforts we are doing to the efforts in cities facing similar things,” Castle said. “We are impacted in similar ways with New Orleans in that social context impacts reasons for high crime rates and youth violence.”

The free, public will begin at 5 p.m. March 30 outside the Red Barn with a resource fair. The main program will begin at 6 p.m. Prevention, łÉČËÖ±˛Ą and Advocacy on Campus and in the Community (PEACC) hosts the event. The department coordinates campus prevention efforts as well as support to students, staff and faculty who are affected by dating or domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking and harassment.Ěý

Activities during the evening will include:

• Speak-out Session, candlelight vigil and march through campus;
• Remarks by Marta Miranda, CEO of Center for Women and Families, Mordean Taylor-Archer, UofL’s vice provost for diversity and international affairs, and other campus and community leaders
• Performances from area performers

In addition to the evening activities, there will be a discussion panel at 3:30 p.m. in the Red Barn. The panel will discuss current sexual assault legislation in Kentucky. Panelists include Rep. Joni Jenkins, Kristena Morse, state director for Marsy’s Law/Victim’s Bill of Rights, Kentucky Office of Victims Advocacy’s Gretchen Hunt and others. This event is also free and open to the public.

Photo provided by .Ěý