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Up2Us is a bystander intervention program offered by OPEN to first-year seminars that teaches students how to recognize risk factors of sexual violence and take action using effective intervention strategies. Many Northeastern students already say they are likely to intervene if they see someone crossing sexual boundaries, and our goal for this program is to provide students with the tools to do so.
Up2Us is OPEN’s signature sexual violence prevention program. It builds upon the topics presented in the required online “Up2Us: Foundations” course, which is a Northeastern-specific online sexual violence prevention program required for all incoming students. Peer educators offer an interactive presentation in first-year seminars that covers prevention, intervention, and response to sexual violence primarily by teaching students how to be active and prosocial bystanders. Students will learn how to recognize situations that are potentially high-risk for violence and how to effectively intervene. This program also covers how alcohol can affect the ability to give consent, resources available on campus, and how to support survivors of sexual violence.
In addition to other positive outcomes regarding likelihood to intervene, Northeastern’s 2021-2022 Survey on Sexual and Gender-Based Harassment found that respondents who participated in this program were more likely to agree or strongly agree that they knew where to get help if they or a friend were to be a victim of sexual violence (86%, compared to 70% of respondents who did not participate in any sexual violence education).
During the 2022-2023 Academic Year, OPEN had ten Up2Us peer educators, gave over 150 Up2Us: Bystander Intervention presentations, and reached over 3,300 students with this program.
Sexual violence is a widespread societal issue that affects people regardless of age, race, gender, sexual orientation, or University enrollment status. Consequently, this is an issue that affects the Northeastern community. Here are some statistics from Northeastern’s 2021-2022 Survey on Sexual and Gender Based Harassment.
If you are an instructor for a first-year seminar class, please note that OPEN will be in touch with your college to schedule your section’s Up2Us: Bystander Intervention presentation. If you have any questions, please contact [email protected]. If you’re not a first-year seminar instructor but would like to have this presentation for your section, please fill out this form to request a presentation, and someone from our office will be in contact with you.
Up2Us: Bystander Intervention is also available as a self-enrollable Canvas module.
If you have any further questions about the Up2Us program or bystander intervention presentations, please email OPEN at [email protected].
We are not currently accepting applications for the Sexual Violence Prevention Educator position. We will likely begin hiring for the 2024-2025 academic year during the Spring 2024 semester. Please follow us on Instagram @NUHealthandWellness for updates on opportunities to get involved!
In this session, peer educators or full-time staff from OPEN will cover information on cultural risk factors for sexual violence, bystander intervention skills, responding to disclosures of sexual violence, and campus resources for community members impacted by sexual violence.
The session is expected to last approximately one hour (or less, depending on the duration of your class). If you have a longer class period, we do not recommend that this content be combined with other presentations.
All Northeastern University employees (with the exception of confidential resources), including Professors, Teaching Assistants (TAs), peer mentors, and fellows are considered mandated university reporters (MUR). We consider anyone in a position of authority in a classroom setting to be a MUR. MURs have an obligation to report to the Title IX Coordinator at the Office for University Equity and Compliance (OUEC) any information they receive about an allegation of sexual assault, sexual harassment, gender-based harassment, dating/domestic violence, sexual exploitation, and/or stalking, discrimination, or harassment.
Staff from the Office of Prevention Education at Northeastern (OPEN), University Health and Counseling Services (UHCS), and spiritual advisors from the Center for Spirituality, Dialogue, and Service are all confidential. Confidential staff are not obligated to report disclosures to the Title IX Coordinator.
Prior to their presentation, students will have been notified by the Division of Student Life that they were required to complete “Up2Us: Foundations,” which OPEN developed as a foundational sexual violence awareness and prevention online program for all incoming students. The content that students will receive in the “Up2Us: Bystander Intervention” session will build on “Up2Us: Foundations” and get further into the nuances of topics such as alcohol and consent and addressing hesitancies around intervention.
“Up2Us: Bystander Intervention” is an interactive, one-hour sexual violence prevention program that focuses on the importance and promotion of prosocial bystander behaviors in order to prevent sexual violence. This program will teach students how to recognize risk factors for sexual violence, identify effective intervention strategies, and take action. This session will also cover topics including alcohol and consent, how to respond if someone tells you they’ve experienced sexual violence, and Northeastern resources.
This session builds upon the content in “Up2Us: Foundations,” the online sexual violence education training required for all new students. By motivating and teaching students how to intervene, we work to prevent sexual violence and create a safer community for everyone.
Students received an email from the Senior Vice Chancellor for Student Life instructing them to take the online “Up2Us: Foundations” course. This online program offers essential information about how Northeastern defines sexual violence and consent, as well as where to go on campus to report or seek support around these issues. Given the importance of this topic, the University places a high value on preventing sexual violence and ensuring that students know where to receive support should they face these issues. As such, two distinct programs – “Up2Us: Foundations” and “Up2Us: Bystander Intervention” — are required for all first-year students. The “Up2Us: Bystander Intervention” program is different from “Foundations,” as it talks more specifically about prevention, bystander intervention, and creating an anti-violent campus culture. Both programs are distinct and are meant to reinforce information learned in each.
If you have not already completed the “Up2Us: Foundations” online course, you must do so before attending an “Up2Us: Bystander Intervention “session. Students can access the “Foundations” program by going to https://up2us-foundations.northeastern.edu/.