On Feb. 13, the Office of Greek Life and Student Societies hosted author, educator and social theorist Jackson Katz for a lecture about preventing gender-based violence on college campuses, with a focus on Greek spaces. The event, which was organized in conjunction with the Equal Opportunity, Accessibility and Title IX Office, the Office of Pluralism and Leadership and the Student Wellness Center, was held in Collis Common Ground and drew approximately 80 attendees, according to associate director of Greek Life Mishka Murad.
The director of the U.S. Marine Corps’ first global gender violence prevention program, Katz has written three books on topics ranging from toxic masculinity to the impact of the patriarchy in presidential elections. His campus lecture primarily centered on the bystander approach, which challenges the “perpetrator-and-victim binary” and instead encourages “all the people around” to “figure out” their role in preventing gender-based violence, Katz said.
The event was part of the GLASS's “We Need to Talk About…” speaker series, which launched in fall 2024 to introduce expert perspectives from outside of the College’s Greek Life administrative arm, according to Murad. The speaker series focuses on subjects that are “difficult topics to talk about … but things we know are prominent on college campuses,” she added.
“A lot of our [GLASS's] training involves using campus resources, but sometimes we need to bring in an outsider’s perspective and expertise,” Murad said. “I think this talk in particular really hit different [for attendees] because it was so familiar.”
Murad opened the event by introducing Katz and explaining the focus of the speaker series, which is part of the College’s “commitment to having challenging conversations while also centering well-being and inclusion,” she explained.
“Each day, we have a choice to perpetuate problematic ideas and behaviors or to stand up against actions that have the power to damage and destroy our communities,” Murad said. “Each day, we show up in spaces with more power and more influence than we know we have.”
Attendance at the event was mandatory for at least two representatives of every campus Greek organization, according to Murad. Olivia Jelsma ’27, a member of Alpha Xi Delta sorority, said she volunteered to attend on behalf of her Greek house.
“Our chapter leaders texted our group chat and explained what the event was about,” she said.
Katz began his lecture by describing his experiences working in gender violence prevention spaces, as well as his career as an educator. In 1993, Katz co-founded the Mentors in Violence Prevention program to help equip people with the tools to “challenge and change social, cultural and institutional norms that support abusive behavior,” according to its website. MVP was the first program of its kind to be implemented by colleges and professional sports teams, as well as by all branches of the United States military.
While intervention can seem daunting, Katz emphasized that not being a bystander is more than “intervening when [you] see a sexual assault happening.” Rather, Katz said he tries to teach people to “carry themselves 24/7 [in a manner that] communicates to the world they are not okay with expressions of misogyny or or degrading comments about girls or women.”
“Intervention is not just at the point of an assault — it’s more generally how you carry and conduct yourself within your friendship circle, within your Greek chapter, in your team,” Katz said.
Katz then illustrated the relationship between daily behavior and violence with a triangle, with the base of the shape symbolizing a broader culture that “allows specific acts of violence to happen.”
Throughout his lecture, Katz emphasized the importance of removing passive language — such as asking “How many women were raped on college campuses last year?” rather than ‘How many men raped women on college campus[es] last year?’” — when discussing gender-based violence. Those kinds of “linguistic conventions” maintain the “old paradigm where these issues [sexual violence] are seen as ‘women’s issues’” while shifting the focus away from abusers, he added.
“This is not sloppy thinking, and it’s not a coincidence,” Katz said. “This is how power works — through stealth, invisibility or the shifting of accountability off of itself.”
The purpose of the talk was not to shame men but instead to “refram[e] these topics as opportunities for leadership,” Katz said
“I don’t feel guilty for being a white person or for being heterosexual,” he said. “I don’t feel guilty for occupying any of those categories of privilege. I do, however, feel responsible.”
In an interview after the event, Murad said Katz’s speech “resonated with the crowd maybe more than the first talk in the series,” which centered on hazing in Greek spaces. Many attendees reached out to Murad after the event to communicate that they were glad to have attended, she added.
“There was a lot of, ‘Oh my goodness, that was so eye-opening,’” Murad said. “A lot of people told me they went home and discussed with their roommates and brothers and friends.”
The passion attendees demonstrated was “just one of the many reasons why I am continuously inspired by the GLASS and Dartmouth community,” Murad added.
“Our students want a healthier and happier community, and … they’re eager to do the work and make it happen,” she said.
Correction Appended (Feb. 19, 8:16 p.m.): A previous version of this article stated that 40 people attended the event. According to Murad, 80 people were in attendance. The acronym for the College's Greek Life office has also been updated from OGL, the Office of Greek Life, to GLASS, Greek Life and Student Societies. The article has been updated to reflect this change.
