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UT Wellness Network

BeVocal: The Bystander Intervention Initiative of The University of Texas at Austin

bevocal

History of BeVocal at the University of Texas at Austin

Timeline of Significant Events

2012

  • A group of UT Austin staff members formed a sub-committee on the UT Wellness Network to examine bystander intervention on campus

2013

  • A retreat was held in January 2013 with 15 members from departments across campus. A community readiness assessment and process logic model was developed, outlining our next steps to move towards our vision of a campus-wide initiative for bystander intervention.
  • A pre-orientation video about bystander intervention was created and viewed by all incoming students.
  • The Bystander Work Group hosted a second retreat with 24 faculty, staff and students in July 2013, to review core concepts, create UT-specific definitions including barriers and steps to intervening. This group collectively drafted and critiqued possible names and slogans.
  • The name BeVocal was chosen as the name for the bystander intervention initiative.
  • December 2013, BeVocal was pitched to the Assistant and Associate Vice Presidents of Student Affairs and received accolades and support.

2014

  • A third retreat and drafted a calendar for launching the initiative via a student logo competition scheduled for late March 2014.
  • February-March 2014, BeVocal launched a campus-wide baseline evaluation study with 804 student respondents. Results were released in Fall 2014.
  • May 2014, The BeVocal team narrowed down submissions from a logo design competition and opened voting to the UT Austin community. A new logo was designed by Dylan Schnurman, class of 2016 in the Department of Advertising.
  • August 2014, the UT System Board of Regents approved 1.4 million dollars of funding for a bystander intervention initiative that will be carried out by all academic institutions in the UT System.
  • Fall 2014, BeVocal Campus Facilitator trainings were launched so that departments and campus organizations could infuse the work into their programs and organizations.

2015

  • In January 2015, representatives from all UT System academic institutions attended a conference to share knowledge and best practices. Together, the schools identified a common definition and action steps for their bystander intervention initiatives.
  • March 2015, BeVocal attempted to have its first campus wide event, the SoGrow Festival. Unfortunately, it was canceled due to weather.
  • April 2015, BeVocal held its first official birthday party to celebrate the first year of being a fully launched initiative.
  • Summer 2015, BeVocal was infused into New Student Orientation
  • BeVocal hired its first paid staff member who serves as a Graduate Student Assistant
  • BeVocal Bystander Student Organization was officially launched and recognized as a student organization

2016

  • January 2016, representatives from all UT System academic institutions came back together to share updates from their campuses’ bystander intervention initiative.
  • April 2016, BeVocal held its second birthday party to celebrate the second year of being a recognized initiative.
  • July 2016, BeVocal hosts a campus-wide summer retreat with the focus on marketing and health communication.

2017

  • January 2017, representatives from all UT System academic institutions came back together to share updates from their campuses’ bystander intervention initiative.
  • April 2017, BeVocal held its third birthday party to celebrate the second year of being a recognized initiative.
  • April 2017, Vice President for Student Affairs supports funding for inagural BeVocal coordinator.

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