Beanpot Schools to Join State Officials for White Ribbon Day

BOSTON—Boston’s Beanpot schools will set aside their rivalries and join together Monday, Jan. 23, to campaign against violence toward women. Coaches, team captains and senior athletic department officials from Boston College, Boston University, Harvard and Northeastern will meet with senior state officials at the State House, in Nurses Hall, at 10 a.m. on Monday as part of the fifth annual Massachusetts White Ribbon Day campaign. The event, coordinated by Jane Doe Inc., the MA Coalition against Sexual Assault and Domestic Violence, is aimed at ending violence against women and children.
 
Lieutenant Governor Timothy Murray, Middlesex County District Attorney Gerry Leone, and Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley will participate in the day’s events.
 
Joining the lieutenant governor and the district attorneys will be senior athletic department officials from each of the schools-—Tom Peters (BC), Mike Lynch (BU), Bob Scalise (Harvard) and Peter Roby (Northeastern)--the men’s ice hockey head coaches--Jerry York (BC), Jack Parker (BU), Ted Donato (Harvard) and Jim Madigan (Northeastern)--and team captains. Craig Norberg-Bohm, of Jane Doe Inc., and Steve Nazro, chair of the Beanpot Tournament, also will participate, as will White Ribbon Day Campaign co-chairs Angelo McClain, commissioner of the Department of Children and Families, and Paulo Pinto, executive director of MAPS.
 
“Over the years, the Patrick-Murray administration has partnered with the White Ribbon Day Campaign to raise awareness and help prevent violence against women,” said Lieutenant Governor Timothy Murray, chair of the Governor’s Council to Address Sexual and Domestic Violence. “We are always encouraged to have more and more men stand up against violence, and we’re thrilled Boston’s Beanpot schools are partnering together to help spread this important message in Boston and across the Commonwealth.”
 
“If our goal is to end violence against women, then we have to start with men and boys,” said Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel Conley. “The White Ribbon Pledge allows male leaders of all ages to make a difference and take a stand against sexual assault and intimate partner violence. The prestige that Boston’s student-athletes carry makes them the perfect ambassadors for our message of safety, equality and respect in every relationship.”
 
“As the former chair of the White Ribbon Campaign,” Middlesex District Attorney Gerry Leone noted, “I know firsthand how effective it is to involve young men as part of our collective voice to address the very real problem of domestic and teen dating violence, and the White Ribbon Campaign works to help ensure that men are actively engaged in reinforcing a proactive approach to maintaining a positive climate of healthy relationships. I commend the governor and lieutenant governor for their commitment to stand with us, united in our declaration to end violence against women.”
 
Through the Massachusetts White Ribbon Day Campaign, men and boys are invited to take the White Ribbon Day Pledge and sign up to be ambassadors. By taking a stand against violence, these men serve as positive role models for other men and boys.
 
“Men and boys all have an important role to play in preventing sexual and domestic violence against women,” said Craig Norberg-Bohm, the men’s engagement coordinator with Jane Doe Inc. “One place to start is for men to address one another to promote a culture of positive masculinity that fosters equality and non-violence.”
 
“The TD Garden, as host for the 60th Annual Beanpot College Hockey Tournament on Feb. 6 and 13, 2012, welcomes the opportunity to reinforce the very positive message of the White Ribbon Day,” Steve Nazro, chair of the Beanpot Tournament and vice president of events at TD Garden, said. “The competing teams join us in encouraging all of our peers and young men everywhere to take and adhere to the White Ribbon Pledge being ‘part of the solution in ending violence against women.’”
 
“It is an honor to join Jane Doe Inc., and the Beanpot Tournament to raise awareness for the White Ribbon Campaign and the work being done everyday to curb, reduce, and eventually eliminate violence against women,” said Department of Children and Families Commissioner Angelo McClain. “Great strides have been taken toward reducing sexual and domestic violence, but there is still important work to be done to ensure that people are safe in their homes and in their relationships. We are excited that the Beanpot Tournament has taken on this important leadership role and provided an opportunity to reach out to men and boys of all ages and encourage them to join this cause and be part of the solution in ending violence against women.”
 
More information about the campaign is available at janedoe.org/whiteribbonday.