WEST LIBERTY, W.Va., Oct. 17, 2017 — West Liberty University’s Lambda Psi Sigma sorority is raising awareness on the issue of domestic violence during a Break the Silence Against Domestic Violence walk from 11 a.m. – 1 p.m., Wednesday, Oct. 18. Open to the public, it will be held on the Hoge Quadrangle, known as the quad.
“Domestic Violence is an issue for colleges everywhere and West Liberty University takes it very seriously. We are proud of our students for taking a stand against this problem which unfortunately is entirely too common in our nation today,” said President Stephen Greiner. “We value our students opinions and support them in their effort to Break the Silence.”
“We wanted to do this now because it’s domestic violence month. We think it’s an important issue on college campuses but sometimes it gets pushed aside and it shouldn’t be. So we invited community groups and other chapters to join us in raising awareness,” said senior Karly Wiley of Chester, W.Va. Wiley is the president of the 42-member sorority and a Speech Pathology major.
Domestic Violence Awareness Month was launched nationwide in October 1987 as a way to connect and unite individuals and organizations working on domestic violence issues.
According to ncadvvoices.org, (National Coalition Against Domestic Violence), domestic violence is the willful intimidation as part of a systematic pattern of power and control perpetrated by one intimate partner against another. It’s important to note that domestic violence doesn’t always manifest in one specific way.
The student led walk includes passing out t-shirts and other items to the public. Laptops also will be available to use in signing the national Women Against Abuse pledge, a national initiative founded in 1976, before the Family Violence Prevention Services Act was passed in 1884.
“We are doing something called #3laps. Those three laps symbolize the three lives lost daily due to domestic violence, nationally. We are doing this to educate everyone and raise awareness because not everyone is aware of the severity of domestic violence,” said WLU graduate student Hannah Walters, who has raised funds in the past for the YWCA and assisted in assembling care packages for the YWCA shelter.
Walters is from Williamstown, W.Va. and is in the master’s of criminology program. She hopes to work with victims of domestic violence and children who have been victims of sexual abuse after she graduates in December.
The sorority also has reached out to other Greek Life groups on campus and expects to see fraternities as well as sorority members participating in the walk Wednesday.
Campus Activities Coordinator Kate Billings oversees Greek Life out of the Office of Housing & Student Life and encourages students to learn more about preventing domestic violence throughout the year. Additionally, Chief Human Resources Officer Diana Harto is the Title IX coordinator for the university and may be reached at 304.336.8139 or via email at diana.harto@westliberty.edu.
Other events planned include a program presented by the Ohio County Sexual Assault Center’s Leslie Prince and planned for noon, Oct. 25. This discussion program, called Sexversation, will take place in the College Union and is open to the public.
WLU has a total of 10 Greek organizations on campus with about 250 students active in the groups.