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New This Year

The 2025 Catalyst Summit is the first of its kind! This two-day event brings together practitioners, advocates, and scholars to explore innovative, collaborative approaches to primary prevention of relationship and sexual violence on college campuses. Through interactive workshops and reflective sessions, participants will engage in collective dreaming and practical experimentation to reimagine prevention work.

Meet Our 2025 Catalyst Summit Highlighted Voices!

Photo of Dr.Chris Linder

Dr. Chris Linder

Dr. Chris Linder is Professor and Chair, Department of Educational Leadership and Policy. She founded the McCluskey Center for Violence Prevention and served as the Director until May of 2025. Chris is the author of Sexual Violence on Campus and co-author of Thinking Like an Abolitionist to End Sexual Violence in Higher Education. She is also the Editor of the Journal of Diversity in Higher Education. Prior to becoming faculty, Chris worked as a student affairs educator and administrator for 10 years, spending the majority of her career as a director of a campus-based women's center supporting survivors of sexual violence.

Nadeeka Karunaratne

Nadeeka Karunaratne, PhD

Nadeeka Karunaratne, PhD is an Assistant Professor of Women’s Spirituality at the California Institute of Integral Studies and a Research Associate at the University of Utah's McCluskey Center for Violence Prevention. In her research, she employs power-conscious and transformative frameworks to understand issues of sexual violence, focusing on interrupting harm and promoting radical healing. Nadeeka's background in student affairs, specifically her work in campus cultural centers and with university violence prevention efforts, influences her scholarship. She works with college students and staff across the country to infuse intersectional, healing-centered approaches into their work and is a trauma-informed yoga instructor who leads healing yoga programs.

Summit Overview

November 20
Thursday
November 21
Friday
Dr. Chris Linder will explore the guiding principles of primary prevention
Learn about abolitionist frameworks, primary prevention, and collective action as the foundation for the summit.
Understand Harm with Allie Moore and Elaine Newton
Examine how harm is caused, how it’s experienced differently, and how we all have the capacity to cause it.
Why Harm Happens with Tillie Powell
Delve into the root causes of sexual harm, including disconnection, trauma, and lack of empathy.
Reflect and Connect
Engage in a collaborative session to process insights, share ideas, and envision how to apply the work in your own community.
Join the MCVP Staff for Dinner
Meet the MCVP Staff and network with other participants.

Join the Summit

The Catalyst Summit is intended for anyone interested in engaging in preventing sexual violence through primary prevention. This includes higher education practitioners, student affairs professionals, student advocates, public safety officers, and/or anyone who works with people who cause harm.

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