Boston, MA, January 31, 2005 - On Monday, January 10, 2005 at 3:00 PM, Northeastern University’s Center for the Study of Sport in Society and the Boston Red Sox will announce their historic new violence prevention training partnership in the Curry Student Center Ballroom on the Northeastern University campus, MLB’s first World Series site. The Boston Red Sox, 2004 World Champions, are the first Major League Baseball team to take a proactive approach and invite Sport in Society to train their players with Sport in Society’s nationally renowned Mentors in Violence Prevention (MVP) program. Sport in Society will start by training players, early this March at Spring Training.

MVP, an innovative gender violence prevention and education program which uses a unique curriculum of leadership training, has trained the rookies and free agents of the New England Patriots for seven years and has provided trainings on more than 100 college campuses across the country.

"The partnership between the Red Sox and Northeastern University's Center for the Study of Sport in Society is an important one," said Dr. Charles A. Steinberg, the Red Sox' Executive Vice President/Public Affairs, "And we are grateful to put the center's expertise to such good use. It is, of course, vital for our players to know how serious and unacceptable domestic violence is, and this program holds promise to effectively address this issue."

Since 2002, Northeastern University has been a proud partner of the World Champion Boston Red Sox. Northeastern’s history with the Red Sox dates back to 1903 with the first World Series, which was played at the Huntington Avenue Grounds, now part of Northeastern’s campus. In addition, the Boston Red Sox is a Northeastern co-op employer, many of our undergraduate students alternate semesters of full-time study with semesters of paid work in the Red Sox organization. Sport in Society also partners with the Red Sox with Boston’s Reviving Baseball in the Inner-City (RBI) program.

About the MVP Program
MVP is a leadership program that motivates men and women to play a central role in solving problems that historically have been considered "women's issues": rape, battering, and sexual harassment. Utilizing a unique bystander approach to prevention, the MVP program views men and women not as potential perpetrators or victims, but as empowered bystanders who can confront abusive peers. This emphasis reduces the defensiveness men often feel and the helplessness women often feel when discussing issues of men's violence against women.

About The Center for the Study of Sport in Society
The mission of Northeastern University's Center for the Study of Sport in Society is to increase awareness of sport and its relation to society, and to develop programs that identify problems, offer solutions and promote the benefits of sport. Sport in Society is committed to the idea that the sports community can, and should, take a lead role in bringing about positive social change. Sport in Society employs the unique power and influence of sport to create positive social change. Sport in Society impacts middle school and high school students, college student-athletes, professional athletes and adult administrators. Sport in Society's dedicated staff of current and former professional and collegiate athletes serve as trainers and change agents in society.

For more information, please contact Kevin Matthews at 617.373.4256 or [email protected].