BY: Will Murry
Art & Life Editor
March is Women’s History Month, a time to acknowledge and celebrate the achievements of women. But
there’s a darker side to the event which lies in the understanding that abuse toward women is still very common. Amongst the events brought to campus this month was the Clothesline Project, an international effort to “break the silence” of violence against women.
The clothesline, set up in the lobby of the Student Center, displayed messages of past experiences of abuse by medium of colored t-shirts. Stories were written directly onto the shirts for passersby to see, no matter how bold the language or how terrible the experience depicted.
The display was organized by Nursing Retention Coach Erica Eciarlo. Eciarlo is also the president of the Diversity Club and the Diversity Committee.
“Anything that raises awareness about domestic violence or sexual assault towards women is important,” said Eciarlo. “It’s a resource that people can connect to, whether they’re an ally or they just want to learn about it.”
The t-shirts were color coded to signify what type of abuse the writer had, whether it be domestic violence, sexual assault, abuse, rape, or even incest. For those who weren’t direct victims of abuse, but still have a story or want to show support, they were given a clothespin to put on the clothesline to add to the display
“It’s definitely not a happy topic but you can’t fix problems by ignoring them, so if it means sticking them in everyone’s face, then, good,” said Gene Dempsey, ESL professor. “It’s important to bring attention to this issue and I think that [the display] is done in a way that’s tasteful.”
The display also included a stereo with a bell that went off every minute to represent that, every minute, there is a new victim of abuse somewhere in the world. The bell continued from the time they set up until the time they tore down the display every day
