SUNY and One Love Foundation Team Up for "Yards for Yeardley"
April 6, 2018
Events on 26 SUNY Campuses Support One Love’s Mission to End Relationship Abuse through Awareness and Education
Campuses Will Work Together to Travel Nearly 50 Million Yards, the Equivalent of Traveling Once Around the World
The State University of New York and One Love Foundation will partner to support “Yards for Yeardley” events at 26 SUNY campuses during the month of April through SUNY System’s “Around the World for Yeardley” campaign. Events are designed to raise awareness and provide education to end relationship abuse.
According to the One Love Foundation, one in three women and one in four men experience a violent relationship in their lifetime. Yards for Yeardley’s mission is to raise community awareness and activism surrounding relationship abuse through education and fostering dialogue between young people and their peers about warning signs of unhealthy relationships.
“SUNY “Yards for Yeardley” campus events are driven by our students, which is a testament to their commitment to end relationship abuse and protect their fellow students and people in their local communities,” said SUNY Chancellor Kristina M. Johnson. “On behalf of the SUNY family, I am pleased to support this program, which is by far the largest of its kind in the nation, to help incite lasting change.”
“SUNY is a model partner for One Love, bringing important conversations about healthy relationships to their campuses and communities,” said Katie Hood, CEO of One Love. “Around the World for Yeardley is one of our most ambitious community-driven campaigns to date, and we know SUNY will lead this effort proudly. We would like to thank Chancellor Johnson and the SUNY students and administrators for their continuous dedication to our mission to educate young people about healthy and unhealthy relationships and galvanize them as leaders of change.”
Created by three women on the Boston College and University of Virginia lacrosse teams in 2014, ‘Yards for Yeardley’ honors Yeardley Love who was abused and killed by her former romantic partner just weeks before her graduation. The initiative is run by the organization One Love, which was founded in 2010 to honor Yeardley and ensure everyone understands the difference between a healthy and unhealthy relationship.
“The SUNY Yards for Yeardley program is student-led, and while thousands of SUNY community members will participate directly, many more will learn about the risks of dating violence and steps we can each take to foster healthy relationships,” said Joseph Storch, Associate Counsel and Principal Investigator of the SUNY Violence Prevention Project. “We are deeply grateful to our SUNY campuses, the One Love Foundation, and the New York Jets for their support of this program and our mutual goal of ending dating violence on campus and in the community.”
Last year, 10 participating SUNY Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) campuses reached a total of over 25 million yards, this year campuses will work together toward a goal of nearly 50 million yards, the equivalent of traveling once around the world. For campuses meeting site goals, One Love Foundation, through its partnership with the New York Jets, will give two tickets for a game this season, and six student leaders from the campus that totals the most number of yards per student will receive tickets to watch a game from a suite.
SUNY campuses participating this year include:
Alfred State College, Binghamton University, College at Brockport, Buffalo State, SUNY Canton, Corning Community College, SUNY Cortland, Empire State College, Erie Community College, Farmingdale State College, Fashion Institute of Technology, SUNY Fredonia, SUNY Geneseo, Herkimer Community College, Maritime College, Monroe Community College, SUNY New Paltz, North Country Community College, SUNY Oneonta, SUNY Oswego, SUNY Plattsburgh, SUNY Polytechnic Institute (Utica), SUNY Potsdam, Purchase College, Stony Brook University, and Tompkins Cortland Community College.
Visit www.suny.edu/y4y/ for more information about specific activities taking place.
About the State University of New York
The State University of New York is the largest comprehensive system of higher education in the United States, and more than 95 percent of all New Yorkers live within 30 miles of any one of SUNY’s 64 colleges and universities. Across the system, SUNY has four academic health centers, five hospitals, four medical schools, two dental schools, a law school, the country’s oldest school of maritime, the state’s only college of optometry, and manages one US Department of Energy National Laboratory. In total, SUNY serves about 1.4 million students amongst its entire portfolio of credit- and non-credit-bearing courses and programs, continuing education, and community outreach programs. SUNY oversees nearly a quarter of academic research in New York. Research expenditures system-wide are nearly $1.1 billion in fiscal year 2023, including significant contributions from students and faculty. There are more than three million SUNY alumni worldwide, and one in three New Yorkers with a college degree is a SUNY alum. To learn more about how SUNY creates opportunities, visit suny.edu.
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Holly Liapis
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