Fraternity Men Talking to Fraternity Men about Sexual Assault: A Peer Education
Approach
Presented by:
Jack Causseaux, MS
Greek Advisor
Juan Rosario, MPA
Academic Counselor
Education Opportunities Program and
Dara Raboy-Picciano, LCSW
University Counseling Center of
Binghamton University

Fraternity Men Talking To
Fraternity Men About Sexual
Assault
 Binghamton’s Program:
 What works: How we did it
 Recruitment of members
 Using our expertise only when necessary
 Late night meetings
 Building Relationships
 Letting the Peer Educators take ownership of the program

Composition of Students:
23 Fraternities/18 Sororities
*IFC Fraternities: Fourteen
*Pan-Hellenic: Six
*Multicultural Fraternities/Sororities:
*Seven Asian Fraternities
*Five Latino Fraternities
*Seven Multi-Cultural Fraternities/Sororities
*Four Nat’l- Pan-Hellenic Council Members
20:1 Members represent IFC and Cultural Fraternities

Men Talking To Men
 FRATERNITY FOCUS GROUP:
 Focus Group Goal:
 To plan a sexual assault education program for
Fraternities that is meaningful to Fraternity Men and to gain an understanding of the Fraternity male perception of the sexual assault problem on this campus.

Men Talking To Men
 FOCUS GROUP QUESTIONS:
 Do you think sexual assault is a problem on BU campus? How is it a problem and how pervasive?
 How do you believe the idea of consent is understood?
 How do members of a fraternity express dissatisfaction with one another? How do they stand up to each other?
 If you were to design an effective sexual assault prevention program what would it look like?
 Do you think men can play an important role in this process?

Men Talking To Men
 WHAT WAS LEARNED:
 Fraternities want to address bystander behavior
 Fraternity men will listen to fraternity men, especially fraternity leaders
 Educate in small groups
 Keep fraternities separate, to promote in-depth conversation.
 Men don’t understand consent

Men Talking To Men
 Recruitment of members
 Fraternity Leaders
 Role of Greek Advisor
 Meeting the Fraternities more than half way.

Men Talking To Men
 DEVOLOPING THE PEER EDUCATION
PROGRAM:
 Training Members
 Choosing a Model
 Planning the Education
 Signing up Fraternities

Men Talking To Men
 THE MODEL:
 Consent: Alan Berkowitz and Bret
Sokolow
 Bystander Behavior: Alan Berkowitz
 The Men’s Program: John Foubert;
William and Mary, Men talking to Men about Sexual Assault

Men Talking To Men
 Challenges For Leaders:
 Feelings about Fraternities
 Consent
 To Mandate or Not to Mandate
 Other Training Concerns

Men Talking To Men
 Initial Positive Outcomes:
 Fraternities receptive to 20:1
 Fraternities educated
 New member education fall/spring
 Consent addressed in meaningful way
 Relationships Built

Men Talking To Men
 COMMENTS FROM FRATERNITIES:
 “Challenged Perspective on Consent”
 “Gained Awareness about Sexual Assault”
 “New Understanding about Consent”
 “Eye Opening Presentation”
 “Made me Think about Sexual Assault in a
Different Way”

Men Talking To Men
 20:1 Members Take Ownership of Program:
 Recruit New Members
 Developed Application/Mission Statement
 Interview Process
 Public Service Announcements
 Present at National Conference

Men Talking To Men
 Unexpected Outcomes:
 The tremendous commitment the men felt to the program
 20:1 members as first responders
 20:1 members as bridge in cases: example; date rape drugs at fraternity houses.

Men Talking To Men
 Challenges For 20:1 Members:
 Recruiting from different fraternities
 Expanding?
 Keeping perps out. How 20:1 dealt with this issue and took ownership of the problem.
 Keeping commitment going

Men Talking To Men
 MISSION STATEMENT:
 Founded out of Binghamton University in 2004-
2005, 20:1 is a group of fraternity men on campus that voluntarily educate other fraternity men and other men as well, on issues regarding sexual assault. Our main goals are to: bring about awareness of possible sexual assault situations, define and explore consent, explore bystander behavior, provide information on how to handle and support victims, and provide resource information, both on and off campus.

Men Talking To Men
 TIER EDUCATION PROGRAM FOR
FRATERNITIES:
 Tier I: The Original 20:1 Program
 Tier II: Consent Training: The Consent Game:
Utilized in New Member Education
 Tier III: Bystander Behavior
 This is a three year Sexual Assault Prevention
Program for Fraternities

 For Your University:
 Initial Commitment of Staff on the Front
End of things
 Willingness to listen and devote tremendous time and energy.
Bu will consult throughout the year and help with questions and challenges.

QUESTIONS?
COMMENTS!