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:

TO REGISTER, CLICK HERE!

RESPONSE ABILITY: Level I Facilitator Certification

Sunday, December 6, 2009

Hyatt Regency Jacksonville (Florida)

12 noon – 4 p.m. | $75*

*The cost covers the workshop, expanded Facilitator’s Guide and Certification Certificate.

Presenter:

Mike Dilbeck, Creator & Producer of the “Response Ability” Project and CAMPUSPEAK speaker

Supported by:

Jesse Lyons, Kappa Alpha Order

Kate Planow, Longwood University

RESPONSE ABILITY, the groundbreaking program on bystander behavior and intervention, gives students the courage to stand up to bad behavior, promote dialogue and work together to create a healthy college climate for all.  This program is currently being used by 35 NIC/NPC organizations and nearly 100 campuses across the country.  It has received the 2009 Laurel Wreath Award (NIC), 2009 Willis HRH Fellow Award (FEA), and the Telly Award (national).

Most of the problems in the fraternity/sorority community involve bystanders – those who see or know about something “wrong” and do nothing, say nothing.  The facilitator, through this program, gets to empower the 95% of our students who are not causing the problems but who are also not standing up to the 5% who are.

RESPONSE ABILITY is one of the most talked-about, powerful, and empowering educational programs currently being used on the college campus.  However, it’s real success and effectiveness now rests on the facilitator.  We must now train and develop powerful facilitators to lead the program and generate conversations that will leave each and every student empowered to turn “wrong” or even threatening situations into opportunities for action.

This is a Level I Certification Program and each person who completes this program will be considered a Certified Level I Facilitator of the Program and will receive an expanded facilitator’s guide and certificate.  Level I is the basic level and certifies someone to thoroughly facilitate the program to individual chapters, or a group of chapters, on their campus. A list of certified facilitators will be kept for possible future opportunities as the program grows and Level II certification will be made available in the near future.

Note:  This certification does not certify someone in being an “expert” in bystander behavior and intervention.  It only certifies them to facilitate the RESPONSE ABILITY educational program.

TO REGISTER, CLICK HERE!

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.

Now, how can you thank me?  To everyone who sat through my presentation, how can you show your appreciation to me?  Many of you still text or Twitter me about how much you enjoyed the presentation and you thank me for coming.  And, I really do appreciate this.  However, what is the greatest form of appreciation you can show?  The greatest and most powerful form of appreciation you can show is to actually have my presentation make a difference in your lives and the lives of others.  There is no higher expression of appreciation than to actually take actions in your life to intervene against problematic behavior and alter the course of how that situation is going to go.

You now have what you need to intervene.  All there is to do now is practice.  Practice going beyond the barriers and acting anyway.  Practice the skills of actually speaking up and intervening.  Practice, practice, practice.  It does take practice.  And, you will fail — you really will.  At least you will fail from the commitment to make a difference — not fail from doing nothing.  Saying nothing.  Taking action and failing is worth it.  And, you will be surprised at how many times you don’t fail — at how many times you actually make a difference in someone’s life.  You then get to know yourself as someone who can, and does, make that difference.

So, for all of you who still send me emails and text messages thanking me for my presentation — keep them coming.  And, please show me the greatest form of appreciation by taking action and making a difference for others and for life itself.

Remember:  it only takes one person to speak up and others will follow.

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.

I went by the Alpha Omicron Pi house this morning (where they are staying for the four days of the institute) and spoke to Brian Tenclinger and Will Foran — the two key facilitators. They say that bystander behavior has already been brought up as a key conversation by the students. That they are clear that intervening is a key access to the future of the Greek system on college campuses and college men and women having the amazing experience they came to college to get. Not to be hazed. Not to experience discrimination. Not to drink themselves to oblivion or even death. Not to experience body shame. Not to be disempowered!

So, I will update this post with how the session goes this evening — just wanted to let you all know that it’s so inspiring to experience college students engaged in this conversation — I CAN’T WAIT!

UPDATE: Well, with the exception of a couple of technical difficulties, the presentation and conversation with the 90+ students and facilitators went very well. They really get this conversation and they are really engaged in it. They saw — and still see — the real opportunity to intervene in situations in their lives. A few of them came up to me afterwards with one simple message: “THANK YOU!” One girl specifically said, “Thank you for putting into words what we have not had words for until now.” Very moving, huh?

It’s very powerful to put words to what currently is not being spoken. By distinguishing the barriers to intervening, you are freed up to act — the barriers no longer have a grip on you. You can — in the moment — distinguish the barrier that is pulling for you not to act and create — in that moment — acting on your values. This is our opportunity each and every moment that we see something happening that our own values tell us is not “right.”

A special thanks to Will Foran of the NIC and Brian Tenclinger of Triangle Fraternity for not only allowing me to “sit in” the conversation but for having RESPONSE ABILITY be a core program of all 10 UIFI sessions this summer — exposing over 900 students and facilitators to this new opening for action in their lives!

[View with PicLens]

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…