Throughout October, Project Safe partnered with student organizations on campus to host events in observance of Domestic Violence Awareness Month. According to Olivia Darrow, assistant director of Project Safe’s advocacy series, these events aimed to raise awareness and provide resources to the Vanderbilt community.
In previous years, DVAM began with the Lights on the Lawn benefit concert in September. Proceeds from the event were donated to the Mary Parrish Center, which offers housing and services to survivors of interpersonal violence. However, the event was canceled this year due to inclement weather.
Darrow shared the motivation behind celebrating DVAM on campus.
“Our primary goal this month is to educate students about the prevalence of dating and domestic violence and to highlight available campus and community resources,” Darrow said. “We hope participants will recognize the red flags of unhealthy relationships and understand that Project Safe is a vital resource for anyone impacted.”
Clothesline project
Among the events organized for this year’s DVAM was “The Clothesline Project: What Were You Wearing,” hosted by the Mu Rho chapter of Delta Sigma Theta in collaboration with Project Safe, Title IX and The Margaret Cuninggim Women’s Center. The event, which took place from Oct. 7 to 9, consisted of a tabling session and an interactive display on Oak Lawn outside of Rand Hall.
Senior Oremeyi Daniyan, a Delta Sigma Theta member who helped plan the project, explained that at the tabling event, students could sign a banner as part of the Clothesline Project, adding their names and myths they wanted to dispel. She then described a second event, an interactive display featuring items like a prom dress and scrubs, each accompanied by a story recounting a survivor’s experience with sexual assault.
This is the third year that Delta Sigma Theta has hosted this project. Daniyan described the new additions made to this year’s event program.
“It started out as a project where people would write messages or statistics on shirts about sexual assault and domestic violence, and we would display them for a week or so,” Daniyan said. “This year, we decided we wanted to make a bigger impact and bring sexual assault to the forefront.”
Other events
Alpha Chi Omega and Project Safe hosted a three hour open house at the Alpha Chi sorority house for their second annual “DVAM Pizza Pie.” Maelyn Gangi, junior and member of Alpha Chi, described the event.
“It’s set up to be an open house for the Vanderbilt community. We serve pizza at the house, and the pizza is our main way of fundraising. We open the door to our house, and anyone’s welcome,” Gangi said.
Proceeds from the event were donated to the Mary Parrish Center. Gangi described students’ responses to the event.
“I felt it was a really good mix between me and my [Alpha Chi] sisters and the wider Vanderbilt community,” Gangi said. “Everyone there that I was either having a conversation with or [over]heard conversations [from] seemed really open to learning more and understanding more about the entire month.”
On Oct. 17, Project Safe held a webinar titled “Supporting Survivors of Dating and Domestic Violence.” The webinar discussed the dynamics of domestic violence relationships, common characteristics of the cycle of abuse and how trauma can impact the brain and body. Jacob Soto, a second-year graduate student, expressed appreciation for the webinar.
“The webinar was incredibly valuable, especially in establishing a baseline understanding of essential terms like the distinctions between ‘survivor’ and ‘victim’ and how to approach situations with a people-centered response,” Soto said. “I’m grateful to the Project Safe staff for addressing my questions on responding effectively, intervening thoughtfully and de-escalation in cases involving relationship violence.”
Project Safe also collaborated with the Center for Spiritual & Religious Life and the Revitalizing and Empowering Vanderbilt’s African Man Population (REVAMP) club for a conversation titled “Survivor’s Remorse: A Conversation About Black Male Abuse.” The partnership held workshops, including “Supporting Survivors of Dating and Domestic Violence” with Alpha Delta Psi. Additionally, Project Safe partnered with the Commodore CARES Coalition for bystander intervention training and handed out purple ribbons for “Purple Thursday” on Oct. 17.
Darrow said she hopes that students leave these events with a greater understanding of Project Safe’s goals.
“We hope participants will recognize the red flags of unhealthy relationships and understand that Project Safe is a vital resource for anyone impacted,” Darrow said.
