On Feb. 6, 2016, the Connecticut College men’s hockey team hosted the fifth annual Green Dot hockey game, taking on Tufts University in front of a full crowd. Tim DiPretoro ’16 scored the lone goal for the Camels on a power play in the second period, and he leads the team with 12 goals scored. Tufts scored eight goals, and Conn goalie Tom Conlin ’16 stopped 27 shots.
Wearing their special green jerseys, the team helped to raise awareness for Green Dot, a national violence prevention program. The game was part of the larger Green Dot week, featuring events such as the Green Dot Gym Takeover on Monday, Feb. 8 at 4 p.m., the Green Dot Bar Night on Tuesday, Feb. 9 at 9 p.m., and a talk called the “Psych of Bystanders” on Wednesday, Feb. 10 at 4:30 p.m. The week will conclude with a Green Dot training session on Saturday, Feb. 13 at 10 a.m. (interested students should email Darcie Folsom, director of sexual violence prevention and advocacy, to sign up).
This year’s Green Dot hockey game featured special guest Dr. Dorothy Edwards, executive director and creator of Green Dot. Dr. Edwards also attended an event honoring Folsom for the work she has done in bringing Green Dot to Conn. Since starting the program at Conn in 2010, Folsom has helped train more than 800 students, faculty and staff.
Dr. Edwards told the Voice that she was especially impressed with the commitment of Conn’s faculty and staff, many of whom were trained over the course of Green Dot week, to follow the lead of students who have also undergone training.
The men’s ice hockey team “set the stage” for this movement, she said. They are they first team in the nation to host a Green Dot game, and Conn now hosts multiple Green Dot athletic games throughout the semester. The progress and momentum being made at Conn is “rippling,” she said, and represents a “true culture change” around the nation.
Dr. Edwards spoke on the significance of the Green Dot athletic games, saying that athletic teams are social leaders on campus and can inspire change. She said it is about individual members of the team “living it, looking for our each other.” More than 70% of the men’s hockey team has gone through Green Dot training.
Aly Cheney ’16, a member of the women’s volleyball team (another athletic team that hosts a Green Dot game), told the Voice, “I really love to see a big turn out at our Green Dot volleyball game, so I love returning the favor every year.”
The hockey team will head to New York to take on Hamilton on Feb. 13, at 7 p.m. •
