Rape, hate crime discussions set at MSU-Northern

Havre Daily News staff

Montana State University-Northern is hosting back-to-back sessions next week on different major issues in today’s society — preventing rape and identifying and dealing with hate crimes.

Monday at 5 p.m. in Northern’s Student University Ballroom, Alan Berkowitz, Ph.D, will present “Promoting Consent, Preventing Coercion: What You can do to Prevent Sexual Assault.”

Berkowitz developed one of the first rape programs for men in the United States at Hobart and William Smith Colleges and was co-director of the college’s Man and Masculinity Program and chaired its Prejudice Reduction Task Force.

Berkowitz received his doctorate from Cornell University and has more than 25 years of experience in higher education as a trainer, psychologist, faculty member and counseling center director.

He recently has helped develope Social Norms Theory and is a leader in research and implementation of the model and has been a consultant for a number of social norms programs.

The program is being brought to campus through the Rape Prevention and Education Grant, which receives funding through the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Tuesday, also in the SUB Ballroom, the university is hosting “What to do About Hate Activity in Your Community” from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

The training is intended to better show people what is — and what is not — a hate crime

The workshop will be facilitated by Rosa Salamanca, senior conciliation specialist for the Community Relations Service of the U.S. Department of Justice; Brendan McCarthy, assistant U.S. attorney for the District of Montana, and Jared Cobell, Indian Country Tribal Liaison.

Both presentations are free and open to the public.