Tuesday night's annual Take Back the Night, presented by the Margaret Cuninggim Women's Center, was also the first public unveiling of the group's Green Dot campaign. The initiative, conceived by the event's guest speaker Dr. Dorothy Edwards of the University of Kentucky, is a violence prevention effort on campuses.

“What is exciting about having it launch during Take Back the Night is that we really were able to get people's enthusiasm," said Anna Guest-Kelly, associate director of the center. "What we want to do is do training to get people involved so the energy is not just a one-time thing."

Sophomore Sarah Barr was convinced.

“I thought it was really powerful,” she said. “I was extremely moved and I’m actually now getting involved in the campaign. The speaker made it seem like it is possible for the violence to be stopped.”

This spring, the Women's Center will hold programs — available to all members of the Vanderbilt Community — to help students understand ways they prevent violence.

Edwards’ discussion at the event focused on concrete ways students could do this, Guest-Jelley said. "It comes down to doing simple things like stepping in when you worry about a situation at a party," she said.

The name of the program also holds a level of significance.

"A lot of our prevention work is coming out of public health," Guest-Jelley said. "A traditional image is to have red dots pop up on a map... within seconds you can see those red dots populate. Our question is: What are green dots that we can create that are prevent violence?"

Edwards said 1 out of 40 people are violent. Her message centered on that idea. 

"If those 40 people are willing to speak out, then it becomes less and less possible for those crimes to be perpetrated," Guest-Jelley said.

Guest-Jelley explained the event was also an opportunity for members of the community to voice their support of efforts. About 300 people attended, she said, and 32 organizations came to show their support.

—Diane BeCraft contributed reporting to this story.