A Men's Project course titled "Men in Rape Education and Prevention" held the first of seven weekly sessions to be held this term Monday night at the Center for Women and Gender. The discussion-based classes, held Mondays at 7 p.m., are aimed at allowing the male participants to explore their responsibilities as men in preventing sexual and domestic violence.
This is the fourth time that the Men's Project has offered MREP at Dartmouth. The group first met during in the Spring of 2002, and most recently convened during Fall term of 2004. This term the group has five participants.
Wade Meyer, the Men's Project Coordinator, and Dave Wolkoff '05, a project coordinator intern, organize MREP. Wolkoff leads the discussion classes, with Meyer acting as a co-facilitator. Although the same themes run throughout all seven sessions, each week has a slightly different topic.
"We discuss issues of masculinity and we try to figure out some things along those lines," Wolkoff said. "We talk about the issue of consent -- what constitutes it and what doesn't."
Topics include sexual harassment, sexual or sexist jokes and homophobia -- specifically how it relates to race and ethnicity. Participants also discuss the statistics and realities of sexual abuse on the Dartmouth College campus.
Wolkoff was a member of the MREP group that met during Fall Term 2003. The original structure and curriculum of the organization was molded by Meyer's predecessor, Rob Curr, and his intern Steve Zyck '04, and developed from a larger program at Northeastern University. This term's sessions will utilize a universal manual on the topic of sexual abuse that provides specific scenarios for discussion.
Meyer believes the issue of sexual abuse is typically considered a taboo topic among men because it is often branded as a "women's issue."
"There's the idea that if a man is talking about [domestic and sexual violence] with his friends, there's some question about his masculinity or his manhood," Meyer said.
David Sampayo '08 attended the class in the fall and said that the sessions were most effective at addressing what men can do.
"The best examples came up with situations we could relate to -- like a friend who might be abusing his girlfriend or a teammate who verbally disrespects women way too much," Sampayo said.
Meyer said he hopes that MREP will serve as forum for the "good guys" to openly discuss topics so that they later can be "in a better position to influence other men when talking to their peers."
Wolkoff and Meyer notified men on campus about MREP via BlitzMail.
"We don't turn people away. Anyone who wants to participate is more than welcome, but that's kind of the number we've been getting recently," Wolkoff said. "The smaller group you have, the more discussion you get and the more valuable it is."
