SEEDS Information
If You are a Victim of Violence…
Many people in the UK community care about what has happened to you. If you would like assistance or support‚ the Violence Intervention and Prevention Center can assist you in accessing medical‚ counseling‚ academic and/or practical services available both on and off UK’s campus. Please call or visit the Violence Intervention and Prevention Center for more information.
(859) 257–3574 or (859) 257–3564
106 Frazee Hall
An innovation in peer education.
36.5% of UK women have reported being victims of physical assault‚ sexual assault and/or stalking while a student at UK. These numbers‚ similar to colleges and universities across the country‚ indicate an issue so broad and so insidiously a part of the campus culture – that nothing short of a complete cultural shift is going to bring those numbers down significantly!
If a cultural shift is needed to make our students safer‚ then students must come together around this issue and create that shift. One single office or unit will not change this campus‚ nor will one or two student leaders – but the combined efforts of each of us can indeed change the culture overnight.
SEEDS are the leaders and catalysts of this cultural shift toward safety for every student and true intolerance of all forms of violence. They are highly trained students who go back to their friends‚ their classes and their other organizations and use their knowledge‚ peer influence and skills to impact one individual at a time until UK is the safest campus in the country.
The SEEDS program is based on the premise that each individual wields the greatest amount of influence with those in his/her social circle – from best friends‚ to classmates‚ roommates‚ sorority sisters and party buddies. Rather than putting students in front of a classroom of strangers‚ using a traditional “peer educator” model‚ SEEDS are trained to use their knowledge and ability to influence change with those who already like and respect them. After all‚ who are you more likely to listen to – a student standing in front of your class who you have never met or one of your closest friends?
There are two primary components to the SEEDS program. First‚ SEEDS make a commitment to training. Each SEEDS is one of an elite student team that attends a one-day training‚ followed by four supplemental shorter training sessions held at your convenience. With a strong foundation of knowledge‚ SEEDS become the student specialists in the area of violence against women. Many of the key issues that perpetuate violence against women are based in bias and misinformation. The only way to confront this misinformation is with facts‚ statistics and research–supported knowledge. The second component of the SEEDS program is the SEEDS Contract. This contract contains the individualized commitment that each SEEDS makes to support efforts to reduce violence against women at the University of Kentucky. This commitment includes educating and influencing peers and friends in informal settings and identifying a specialty based on individual skills and interests to contribute to the broader mission of the Violence Intervention and Prevention Center.
If you are a male or female student who finds it completely unacceptable that more than one in three of the women you care about on this campus will be victims of violence – SEEDS is your chance to do something about it. Consider getting involved. Consider making a difference.
If you are interested in becoming a VIP SEED, check out the SEEDS Interest Form. We will are currently accepting applications for the 2007/2008 SEEDS team! We must train 500 students from across campus‚ and we need YOU to make that possible.
violence intervention and prevention center . university of kentucky . 106 frazee hall . lexington‚ ky . 40506–0031 . (859) 257–3564 . fax (859) 323–3646