I was laying in bed last night doing some work on my laptop and watching AC360 on CNN. Like usual, it was really serving as background noise. Then, something caught my ears and my eyes. They were doing a story on the gang rape of the 15-year-old this past weekend. Now, that’s shocking itself, right? Then, they talked about the fact that there were 20 people standing around — some participating in the rape and SOME JUST WATCHING! Just watching? How can you stand around and watch something like this. Even worse, some were taking pictures and video with their cell phones.
Can this be any more blatant form of bystander behavior? As a matter of fact, a follow-up story today on CNN and CNN.com actually talks about the bystander effect with this situation.
So, read the story and let me know what you think. What is your reaction to this?
This is also generating a conversation about whether or not bystanders can actually be prosecuted. See the video here.
I am thrilled to present a very special opportunity to members of the Association of Fraternity/Sorority Advisers this coming December at the AFA Annual Meeting. As one of the Advance Programs (formerly called “pre-con programs”), AFA members can become a LEVEL I CERTIFIED FACILITATOR for the RESPONSE ABILITY program. Here are the details as they appear on the AFA Annual Meeting website:
I have just finished a whirl-wind week traveling the country speaking to over 3,000 college students. On Monday, I spoke to 600 at Jacksonville State University in Alabama. On Tuesday, empowered 500 at NW Missouri State University. Then, this past Thursday, presented to my largest audience yet — about 1,800 at the University of Arkansas.
It was exhausting. It was exhilarating. It was inspiring. It was confronting. It was fulfilling. It was AWESOME! And, I want to express my deepest appreciation to these schools for booking me and presenting this program to their students. This shows a huge commitment to empowering their students to stand up and do what’s right. Thank you — thank you — thank you for everything you did and for all your hospitality during my visit.
I also want to thank each and every student who listened to my presentation. I am clear that it was mandatory that you be there and I still appreciate your participation and attendance.
Well, I have already Tweet’ed about this today and put it on Facebook but it just begs for a blog post — it’s such a great story about the power of social media.
This past Friday, I had a spontaneous idea to spend a couple of days in Michigan — just wanted to get away from the distractions of Market Days in Chicago so that I could finalize my article on bystander behavior for the AFA Perspectives magazine. So, I got online and searched for a Bed & Breakfast (B&B) and found the perfect one (one of the only ones with a room — which was one reason it was perfect), put in all my credit card information and reserved the room. Long story short, the B&B did not honor my reservation and I was already on my way to Michigan with no place to stay. The Saugatuck/Douglas Visitors Bureau came to my rescue and I got a room.
However, the whole experience with the first B&B was not complete for me — I needed to intervene on this unprofessional lack of customer service. In a series of phone conversations and emails back and forth, they continued to not address my frustrations or dissatisfaction — they just didn’t get it.
There is the story of a guru who walks into the offices of a well-established consulting firm and sees a cracked window. “How long has that window been cracked?”, he asks one of the office managers.
“At least two years, I think it was like that when I got here,” the office manager replies.
The guru heaves a chair through the window out onto the street. “Maybe now you’ll fix it,” he lessons.
Throw a chair today. There are things not working and the one tolerating them is you.
A special shout-out to John Patterson for this post.
This past Saturday, I had the pleasure of speaking to all 550+ women at Alpha Delta Pi’s international convention. Here, I was able to see something in those women on Saturday that captures why I do what I do — why I am such a maniac about bystander behavior. Women all around the room began to smile. They began to transform in their chairs. You could see them come to life. You could see them get at least a glimpse into what it would look like to actually be able to stand up for what their personal values tell them is “right.” What would that be like? What would that make possible? For their chapters, their friends, their families, their schools, their communities? For the world?
Most importantly, how would they get to experience themselves in that moment? Powerful? Courageous? A leader? THE ONE?
This post is to make available for download the PowerPoint presentation I will be using in all of my keynote presentations on bystander behavior. This is being made available as a handout for anyone who would like the specific information and definitions. This is a PDF slideshow of all 44 slides and, of course, they are static with no movement.
I am currently sitting at a cafe in beautiful Bloomingon, Indiana — home of Indiana University. The second session of the Undergraduate Interfraternity Institute (UIFI) is underway and in just a few hours they will see the RESPONSE ABILITY video and have a conversation for bystander behavior in the college fraternity and sorority setting. UIFI brings together fraternity and sorority leaders — current college students — from around the country for four days to train and develop them into the leaders they are committed to being. This summer, over 900 college students and facilitators will engage in this conversation. They will then take it back for their respective chapter, council, and school to make a huge difference in college and fraternity/sorority life.
On Sunday, April 19th, Mike accepted the Laurel Wreath Award at the Laurel Wreath Luncheon, part of NIC’s Centennial Annual Meeting. BECK & CO. received the Laurel Wreath Award for RESPONSE ABILITY and the positive impact this program has made on the interfraternal community.
This past weekend, I traveled to Washington, DC to accept the Laurel Wreath Award – the highest program award given by the North-American Interfraternity Conference. This was to recognize RESPONSE ABILITY for the impact it has had on the interfraternal community. While I was there, I took my Flip camera and gathered some testimonials on the program — got first-hand what they thought. Here they are…
I was laying in bed last night doing some work on my laptop and watching AC360 on CNN. Like usual, it was really serving as background noise. Then, something caught my ears and my eyes. They were doing a story on the gang rape of the 15-year-old this past weekend. Now, that’s shocking itself, right? Then, they talked about the fact that there were 20 people standing around — some participating in the rape and SOME JUST WATCHING! Just watching? How can you stand around and watch something like this. Even worse, some were taking pictures and video with their cell phones.
