Red Sox partner to prevent violence with NU's Sport in Society
(1-10-04) BOSTON, Mass. - 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, the site of the very first World Series. 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 this March at Spring Training.
About the Center for the Study of Sport in Soceity
The Center for the Study of Sport in Society at Northeastern University is one of the world�s leading social justice organizations that use sport to create social change both nationally and internationally. The flagship organization located in the heart of Boston, Mass. was founded in 1984 by Dr. Richard Lapchick and touts branches in Baltimore, Md. and Phoenix, Ariz. Through research, education, and advocacy the center promotes physical activity, health, violence prevention, and diversity among young people and college and professional athletes. Sport in Society�s innovative programs are all staffed by former college or professional athletes and have been awarded America�s most successful violence prevention program by Lou Harris, the Peter F. Ducker Award as the most innovative non-profit program in the social sector, and have been cited as the National Crime Prevention Council�s 50 Best Strategies to Prevent Violent Domestic Crimes. For more information please visit http://www.sportinsociety.org.
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."
Representing the Red Sox will be Theo Epstein, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Dr. Charles Steinberg, Vice President of Public Affairs, and potentially some players and legends. Dr. Richard M. Freeland, President of NU, Sport in Society�s Director, Peter Roby will also join Joe Castiglione, the play-by-play announcer on the Red Sox Radio network and a broadcast journalism lecturer at NU, to make this announcement.
�This partnership reflects the leadership qualities the Red Sox have shown on and off the field,� says Peter Roby, director of Sport in Society, �This really speaks to the quality of the management of this organization and the culture they are trying to create around this important issue.�
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.
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 Norheastern�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 works with Boston�s Reviving Baseball in the Inner-City (RBI) program.
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.
