Dr. Christopher Zacharda is the Senior Associate Dean of Students at Northwestern University. He oversees a large wellness related portfolio including Student Advocacy and Wellness, the Office of Community Standards, Off Campus Life, hazing prevention and disaster response. He earned a bachelor's degree in English and Political Science from Bucknell University; a master's degree in Higher Education Administration from the University of Connecticut; and a doctorate in Educational Psychology from the University of Southern California. He has worked in student affairs for over 25 years, with focuses on formal and informal accountability models, as well as restorative practices. He is also a research fellow for the Piazza Center out of Penn State, where his focus is hazing prevention and response. He has facilitated countless workshops on hazing prevention, sexual assault prevention, understanding consent and bystander intervention at several campuses, national headquarters and national conferences. He is a proud fraternity man having previously worked at his fraternity headquarters. He is also a former and current athlete, still competing as an open water and competitive US Masters swimmer.
In episode 714 of the Fraternity Foodie Podcast, we find out how his own fraternity experience influence the kind of student affairs professional you became, what those different perspectives taught him about preventing sexual violence on college campuses, what does genuine consent look like on a college campus, what are common myths about consent, what is the 5-D method of bystander intervention, why the connection between values and behavior is so important, how to challenge problematic behavior, where does accountability fit into sexual violence prevention, and how to create environments where students are more likely to speak up when they're worried about someone's behavior. Enjoy!
