By SAMUEL CATHCART, Staff Reporter

The Wellness Center and University Recreation are partnering up to host the first 5-on-5 Green Dot Dodgeball Tournament on May 15 at 7 p.m. at the Recreation Center.

The dodgeball tournament is a fun way for students to learn about the Green Dot campaign and the Bystander Training Event, as well as giving them a chance to hurl balls at their classmates.

Registration for the event began on May 1. Students who are interested in entering a team can pick up registration forms at the Wellness Center or Recreation Center front desk, and can register a team any time prior to the start of the event.

“We want to get our students who play dodgeball interested in bystander training and Green Dot,” Eric Scott, University Recreation, said.

The Green Dot campaign has been going on at Central Washington for the past four years.

“The Green Dot campaign is meant to empower bystanders to prevent works of power-based personal violence,” Alice Bowman, Wellness center health educator, said.

During the event, the Wellness Center will be promoting the Green Dot bystanders training. There will be a booth set up to inform students about the training and how they can get involved.

The Bystander Training will be held on May 18 and will teach students how to react when they’re confronted with violence.

“Bystander training is a violence prevention program,” Andrea Easlick, health educator and sexual assault coordinator, said.

Bystander training is open to anyone who is interested. Participants do not need prior violence prevention training to attend.

“We train students and equip them with the tools they need to help victims,” Bowman said. “The bystander training is a lot of fun and totally worth it. I’ve gone through it multiple times and you continue to learn and feel more confident in helping to reduce violence in our community.”

The Wellness Center will also have an incentive for the teams participating in the tournament. The team with the best Green Dot outfits and the team who gets all their players signed up first will receive a prize.

Students interested in entering a team or attending the event can find more information at the Wellness Center or online at www.cwu.edu/rec.