By Ari Jacoby ’28, staff writer
Stephanie Erisman, junior criminal justice and sociology double major, worked hard to find a way to bring light to the intense impact sexual violence has on undergraduate students.
Sexual violence impacts individuals on a deep and emotional level that can alter their life entirely.
Erisman’s goal was to make a project that displayed the true nature of how many people are impacted by sexual violence, whether that is through being a survivor themselves, or having a close friend who is a survivor.
Wings Of Change was inspired by the Clothesline Project by Stark. The Clothesline Project is when a clothesline is adorned with various T-shirts that display and represent a particular woman’s experience with sexual violence. This project is displayed on universities and colleges across the United States.
The event Erisman is holding will conclude Friday, Oct. 31, at a table on the ground level of Bishop Library. Depending on the impact of sexual violence, students will be able to decorate a teal, purple or white butterfly.
Erisman will personally be at a table in the Mund Dining Hall on Thursday, Oct. 30, from 11 a.m. to 12 p.m. to join the decorating and simply support those who have personally been victims of sexual violence, or even just those who want to bring awareness alongside Stephanie.
“I am a survivor of sexual violence myself,” she said. “I know that survivors get blamed for it and never want to talk about it. I want to encourage them through this project to speak up about it and not to do it alone.”
LVC has various resources to help survivors, such as on-campus counseling and campus security, while also promoting the belief that no battle, regardless of severity, has to be fought alone.