WHAT IS BEST?

A program of Men As Peacemakers, the BEST Party Model is an innovative environment-shaping program designed to empower students with the awareness, relationships, and skills necessary to shape the campus environments they occupy and influence. This 8-week program targets high risk environments for sexual violence, engaging student leaders and other influential student groups (athletic teams, Greek houses, clubs and associations) in community-building and making grassroots, student-driven changes to campus life and culture. BEST also supports school administrators, coaches, and staff in implementing proven prevention models in order to create the safe, equitable, and fulfilling campus experience all students want and deserve.

 

BEST PROGRAM COMPONENTS

MAP offers a variety of tools and supports to campuses and student groups looking to engage in strategic community-building and environment-shaping, including:

  1. 8-week BEST Group Curriculum for providing athletic teams, fraternities and sororities, and other influential student groups with tools and strategies for reimagining and shaping party culture and environment.

  2. BEST Facilitator Training for student leaders interested facilitating BEST groups on campus and within their spheres of influence. *Students must have completed the 8-week BEST program to be eligible for this training.

  3. First Year-Orientation and Educational Programming providing incoming students with foundational knowledge and skill-building opportunities for navigating and shaping safe social environments.

  4. Campus Awareness and Promotional Events around sexual violence prevention, environment-shaping, and increasing student capacity to be change-makers and leaders on campus.

  5. Technical Assistance and Support to student facilitators and campus administrators, counselors, coaches, and staff looking to integrate evidence-based prevention strategies into the campus response to sexual violence.

  6. Institutional Trainings specifically tailored to increase campus capacity for sexual violence prevention strategy and engagement.

Learn more in our BEST Informational Booklet:

 

WHY PARTY CULTURE?

Parties can be a vital part of the college experience. They are student-driven environments that exist in parallel with sanctioned campus spaces and policies. In turn, party culture has a big effect on the overall campus culture and environment. While every campus is unique, parties are consistently a significant point of intersection with sexual violence on college campuses. But this presents a tremendous opportunity for students to reimagine their social interactions and physical spaces! Rather than bystander intervention (ie: programs which train students to recognize and respond to sexual violence as it is occurring), BEST helps student leaders create party environments that are safe, fun, and respectful for all participants – and where sexual violence does not occur.

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