Student reactions

On April 13th and 14th the “Clothesline Project” was displayed on campus. This display consists of t-shirts that survivors of domestic violence, rape and sexual abuse design to share their experiences. As I walked through the display it amazed me just how powerful the project is, each t-shirt detailing a different woman’s experience and her struggle to recover from her ordeal. Something else struck me as I walked through: it was two students, laughing and making fun of the display. I am a senior, graduating with a social work degree this May, and I have worked with survivors of domestic violence. The amount of time, energy and strength that it took these women to create and display these t-shirts is incredible. I was outraged that students at an institution of higher learning would laugh and not recognize the seriousness of this display. Many of the women who created the t-shirts walked through to see what they had created. To think how it made them feel to have their lives on display to promote much needed awareness of these issues and to see students joking greatly saddens me. I hope that next year more students look at the display and realize that each shirt represents a woman’s struggle to regain control of her life, a secret that she may never have shared or even a life that was taken because some people do not realize how serious these issues are.
Susan McGinley