READING, Pa. — In celebration of Martin Luther King Jr. Day on Monday, Jan. 16, Penn State Berks students will be volunteering in the local community and participating in a “Stand for State” bystander intervention training on campus.
Students will prepare sandwiches at Opportunity House from 9 to 10 a.m., work on completing a craft with children in the Opportunity House 2nd Street Learning Center from 12:30 to 2:30 p.m., work to clean up Gring's Mill Recreation Area from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., and spend the afternoon playing games and assisting residents at Country Meadows from 3:30 to 5 p.m.
The students will be working under the supervision of Autumn Fritz, assistant director of community development, who will challenge them to think about themes from Martin Luther King Jr.'s messages and how they relate to serving these very different communities.
In addition, the campus will hold its “Stand for State” training at 1:30 p.m. in room 145 of the Thun Library.
The Stand for State program is a University-wide initiative aimed at empowering Penn Staters by providing bystander intervention training to students, faculty and staff. The key tactics for intervening and removing someone from harm’s way are Green Dot’s three D’s: Direct, Delegate and Distract. In February 2015, Penn State President Eric Barron endorsed the bystander intervention program as part of all 18 recommendations to fight sexual assault and sexual harassment on campus that were presented by a University task force.
For additional information, contact Fritz, Student Activities Coordinator, at 610-396-6098 or [email protected].
