Approaching A.B.I. Awards: the origin and the influence

C.A.R.E.S. will be tabling until March 8 in the first floor of Beckman Hall to allow students to nominate Men of Integrity and Women of Strength, Courage and Action. MIA FORTUNATO Photo Editor

Giving recognition to students on campus that intervene in interpersonal conflict and violence for the safety of their peers, the Active Bystander Intervention (ABI) awards will take place on March 11 at 7 p.m. in Memorial Hall. The event, hosted by Creating A Rape-Free Environment for Students (C.A.R.E.S), includes a brief powerpoint presentation on what it means to be an active bystander, followed by an award ceremony honoring students that have lived up to the title.

While several students will be nominated for the two eligible categories which include the Men of Integrity award and the Women of Strength, Courage and Action award, only one will receive the trophy for each title. The ceremony serves to promote Chapman students who are active in their community whether it be as a Resident Advisor, a concerned friend, or a Greek Life affiliate.

“We often give too much credit or too much press to people who are making bad choices (and) we need to give more press to people who are making good choices,” said Dani Smith, director of Proactive Education Encouraging Responsibility (P.E.E.R) and Health Education as well as a C.A.R.E.S. Coordinator and Rape Crisis Counselor. “The front page should be people who are stepping up and stepping out and making a difference and saving people.” IIiC.A.R.E.S. roots stem back to 1993 when several students on campus came to Smith in an effort to bring awareness to sexual violence in a university setting. However, the A.B.I. awards began much later in 2004 as an educational reform initiative by the fraternity Pi Kappa Alpha, which was ultimately ran in conjunction with C.A.R.E.S.

Sanctioned for inappropriate behavior, the fraternity was responsible for attending an educational reform mission about interpersonal violence and volunteering at a domestic violence shelter. Impressed with the empowering effect on the chapter and wanting to spread that initiative to the rest of the Chapman community, the President of Pi Kappa Alpha worked with Smith to begin the Men of Integrity program, financially assisting in bringing guest speakers to campus to talk to students about sexual assault. This program later evolved into an award ceremony that ultimately encompassed both men and women who intervene in crises.

“We’ve been striving to make this event focal for our fraternity so we’re trying to have guys first off be active in C.A.R.E.S. which I do personally as well as our philanthropy chair,” explained Pi Kappa Alpha president Matt Burns, a junior business administration major. “At the same time you don’t have to be in C.A.R.E.S. to be an active bystander so we kind of preach that.”

Greek Life ties with the event have maintained strong as Phi Delta Theta member Cadre Carrigan, a junior computer science major, won the Men of Integrity award last year for his outward assistance in compiling a list of sexual assault cases on campus to assist several women in getting justice through Title IX investigators. Having participated in several other C.A.R.E.S events throughout the year, Carrigan officially joined the organization this year following his reception of the award.

“I’m helping plan the event this year,” Carrigan said. “Part of that is informing people and having them and helping them to understand why (C.A.R.E.S. is) here on this campus and just how people can take action and themselves be an active bystander.”

Many of the C.A.R.E.S. members themselves are active Greek-life members. Phi Delta Theta and Pi Kappa Alpha led a joint initiative to help promote the event on a more widespread scale this year. The chapters will be holding informational tabling March 9 to 11 in anticipation of the ceremony to reel in a greater audience and promote other chapters to be cognizant of interpersonal violence.

While informational tabling will be held the week of the event, tabling to encourage students to nominate their peers will continue throughout the following week to outline the qualifications of an active bystander and show students where they can vote for the Women of Strength, Courage and Action award or the Men of Integrity award.