Wednesday, May 12, 2021 - All Day Event
Tucker Field
Who:
Students with a valid wildcat pass
What is Unity Day:
Unity day is a carnival style event brought to you by the UNH Student Athlete Committee on Mutual Respect (SACOMR). The day will include multiple stations with an educational aspect focused on issues of social justice tied into some form of a game. Stations will be prepared, set up, and run by members of COMR. Raffle tickets will be awarded to participants at each individual station and can be used to enter for a chance to win the raffle prizes. Winners will be announced at the end of the event. (Must be present to win) The goal of the event is to bring awareness to and educate our fellow student athletes on issues that are important to us based around our 3 pillars - diversity, LGBTQ+, and gender equity. We want as many students to be involved as possible so that we can continue building a safe and inclusive environment in the athletic department and across campus.
What is Bench Out the Stigma:
Bench of the Stigma is an annual mental health awareness event hosted by the Student Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC). During the event, teams of 4 will have a weight lifting competition to see who can bench press the most weight. The competition will involve members from the different UNH sports teams as well as UNH Greek Life Fraternities, and each participant will pay a $5 registration fee which will in turn be donated to Strafford County Public Health.
In order to run this event successfully, we will need to relocate the bench press stations from the Whittemore center to Wildcat Stadium. If this is not possible, each team will go into the Jerry Azumah Performance Center one at a time to complete their reps while other participants remain on the football field engaging in socially distant activities provided by COMR Unity Day. Awards will include: most reps, heaviest weight, most creative outfits, best cheering/support, and most funds raised.
The goal of Bench Out the Stigma is to bring awareness to the impacts that mental health can have on students and student athletes and break the stigma that people who struggle with mental health are not strong and capable of success.
In addition to the competition, we will have sponsors tabling to advertise their product or service and handing out samples to UNH student-athletes and fraternities. Sponsors include: Red Bull, The Spot, Amazon, Thrive, and Chick-fil-a (not confirmed).
COVID-19:
All participants must have a valid wildcat pass, must be symptom free, and must be free of contact tracing protocols. (We can’t require vaccines, but if people are fully vaccinated they should be all set). Stations will be run as socially distant as possible, waiting areas/lines will be marked in order to ensure social distancing. Hand sanitizer and sanitizing wipes will be available. Stations and any shared materials will be sanitized between participants.
Gender Equity stations:
- Light classroom activities girl thing vs boy implicit bias based around words
- (Example questions): https://www.open.edu/openlearncreate/pluginfile.php/272873/mod_resource/content/1/Classroom%20Activities%20on%20gender%20stereotypes%20and%20equality.pdf
- Implicit bias test (QR code available for people to take on phone)
link: https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/takeatest.html
- Gender lightbulb movement
- Discussion station:
Discussing a time you became aware of being treated differently because of your gender. (For example, a girl not being allowed to play football, or a boy being told he shouldn't play with dolls)
- QR code for people to scan and fill out survey
- Posters of gender lightbulb moments available for people to read
- Trivia game about statistics...get the amount right you get raffle tickets.
- Print out piece of paper with questions
Covid Protocols for gender equity stations:
- We are planning to have dots around our tables (2) that are spread 6 feet apart. No one will be touching anything on our table but we will have wipes and hand sanitizer available if needed!
LGBTQ+ Stations:
Station #1: Pronoun Buttons
Students will be able to create their own pronoun button and add it to their backpack
Station #2: Flag matching game
Participants will compete against each other and try to match the term with the flag
Covid protocols for LGBTQ+ stations:
- Participants will only be touching their own materials. Hand sanitizing will be available before and after participating in stations. Stations will be spread out 6 feet apart
Diversity Stations:
Station 1:
Someone will be on the mic telling people to step forward if they have a certain privilege
- Covid protocols for that would be 6 ft apart and masked for all participants.
Station 2:
Equity vs. Equality Relay race, Baseball bat so the person can spin themselves around before doing the obstacle course.
- We will be wiping the bat down for covid safety.
Station 3:
- 1 table with info/books/qr codes to donate and a white board for people to write how they can be better educated on diversity
Bench out the Stigma:
Bench Out The Stigma is an annual event where UNH students participate in a bench pressing competition in order to raise money for local mental health charities. This is the third year that Bench Out The Stigma will take place. Due to COVID-19, we have implemented the following cleanliness protocols:
- All visitors will be required to have a valid wildcat pass and wear a mask to enter.
- Between each participant on the bench press, all equipment will be fully wiped down by designated station workers.
- Participants will not touch the weights – each station will have a designated person to put on and take off weights from the barbell.
- Participants will register as groups of 4. These groups will be strongly recommended to be close contacts of each other (i.e. teammates, roommates, etc.).
- One group will participate at a time. After the completion of their bench pressing, that group will be moved away from the station in one direction, while the station is being wiped down. The next group will move in after cleaning has been completed.
- Bench pressing racks will be at least 10 feet apart and all bench pressing will take place outside on Tucker Field.
