Springfield Technical Community College students created T-shirts with positive messages of strength and survival to mark Domestic Violence Awareness Month.
STCC students joined faculty and staff on Oct. 28 to participate in the Clothesline Project, visual display that seeks to break the silence around domestic violence. The event involves a display of T-shirts that have been created by the greater Springfield community over the past 20 years as a way to use art as a form of expression and healing from experiences of relationship violence.
Support and Advocacy for Everyone (SAFE) Project and the Campus Activities Board organized the campus event in honor of national Domestic Violence Awareness Month. This year, the event was held at the Student Learning Commons Forum (Building 19)
Those attending the event created their own T-shirts to add to the display, from either the perspective of a survivor and/or a bystander and loved one who has witnessed a friend or family member experiencing violence. Those attending can also learn more about bystander intervention and campus resources, enjoy a free grab and go lunch, and win prizes.
Over the lunch hour, members of the STCC SAFE Project Coordinated Community Response Team (CCRT) presented a meet and greet with students and employees. The CCRT is a multidisciplinary team of campus and community partners working to reduce sexual assault, dating/domestic violence, and stalking through a comprehensive approach to prevention, education, and responsive support. Both campus and community partners like the YWCA of Western Massachusetts will be present to share resources and connect with students and staff at the College.
WWLP-22News stopped by to cover the event, interviewing Cindy Breunig from STCC and Amber Estelle from the YWCA of Western Massachusetts.
For more information about the Clothesline Project, please visit https://www.stcc.edu/resources/stccwecan/. You can also follow the STCC SAFE Project on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/stccsafeproject/.
