Following concerns about Duke’s GBV Orientation Week training, the University updated the submission for Fall 2024 and established a new Office of Gender-Based Violence Education and Outreach (GVEO).

During Week O of 2023, the University held a mandatory course on gender-based violence for new first-year students, which was met with significant reaction from several students present for being “triggers” and “apathetic”.

Duke established the GVEO office the following month, according to Jenn Wiggins, who joined the University then as associate dean of students and director of GVEO. She held the position for a year before leaving in September to serve as the inaugural director of Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University’s Office of Sexual Violence Prevention and Education.

In a Sept. 9 email to The Chronicle, Wiggins wrote that the office — which replaced the existing Center for Gender-Based Violence Prevention and Intervention — was established with a mission that “emphasized primary and secondary prevention” by “emphasizing (highlighting) the importance of audience intervention.”

“Bystander intervention sends a clear message of intolerance of unhealthy and unsafe behaviors while encouraging empathy for survivors,” Wiggins wrote.

During the 2023-24 academic year, GVEO representatives heard from student leaders about a “noticeable awareness gap” about the resources available to address gender-based violence. In response, Wiggins wrote that the office has taken a number of steps to “ensure that individuals not only have a general knowledge of resources, but also receive resource cards so they can easily refer to them.”

One of the most significant changes was the update to O-Week training, which was a collaborative effort between GVEO and New Student and Family Programs (NSFP).

In a Sept. 11 email to The Chronicle, Grace Sullivan Zirkle, associate dean of students and director of NSFP, wrote that NSFP evaluates orientation programming each year to identify areas for improvement, a process that “involves collecting of information from new students and student leaders, as well as using best practices in the field.”

Junior Selena Collins, a 2023 OL and a 2024 project director (PD), witnessed the damage from the previous year’s training, stating that “one person was trying to be funny — they were joking — and the other person … was really dismissive “.

Collins said this year’s training received better feedback. However, some OLs said that the questions asked by the circle chat did not provide a space for meaningful conversation.

“I think a lot of these discussions are … something that Duke needs to do in order to be able to say they’ve prepared students for college,” Collins said.

Another PD, junior Chiara Federico, echoed this sentiment. Federico believes the changes were pushed by pressure from last year’s PDs and the November 2023 Chronicle article.

“Rather than trying to help people sort through their trauma, this year is just about looking at each other more, at a very basic level, and how best to intervene in those scenarios,” Federico said.

However, like Collins, she would still like to see the circle chat questions improve in a way that “encourages students to engage in more tangible conversation.”

Kate MacDonald, in her first year, received the training well. She believes the presenters were trying to be engaging and “keep people on their toes”, but that most students had a neutral reaction to the presentation.

According to initial NSFP data, 91.76% of first-year students felt “very knowledgeable or somewhat knowledgeable” about gender-based violence prevention resources on campus after orientation.

GVEO and NSFP representatives said they will continue to listen to feedback and modify their presentations to help make “informed decisions” about next year.

“One training is never enough… That’s why GVEO is a dedicated office at Duke that hosts events throughout the year,” wrote Sullivan Zirkle. “As with any guidance, these conversations are the beginning of an ongoing dialogue on these topics.”

Students seeking support for gender-based violence can contact CAPSwhich has a staff office in the Wellness Center open 9:00am to 4:00pm Monday through Friday and also operates a 24-hour confidential mental health crisis line at 919-660-1000. For immediate emergencies, students may call Duke University Police at 919-684-2444.