By Sarah Wang | Staff Writer
With the goal of raising awareness against domestic violence and promoting healthy relationships, Alpha Chi Omega is currently hosting Healthy Relationships Week.
From Monday to Friday, the sorority has tabled on campus, presenting a poster board with examples of what healthy relationships and unhealthy relationships look like. It also provided students with buttons saying “Love is…” to invite them to write their personal characteristics of love.
Woodlands sophomore and Alpha Chi Omega member Avery Carrier said the sorority deliberately chooses the color purple for its philanthropy events because it is the national color of domestic violence awareness.
Mesa, Ariz., junior and Alpha Chi Omega member Grace Fortier said the sorority partnered with the Waco Family Abuse Center to talk about the reality of domestic violence. Fortier said unhealthy relationships are something that a lot of people are too scared to talk about.
“Most people on our campus and our community are suffered with being in unhealthy relationships every day,” Fortier said. “We just want to promote what being in a healthy relationship looks like and raise awareness for that, because not being in a healthy relationship will lead to domestic violence situations.”
Carrier said knowledge about healthy relationships is especially important for college students who are independent and living away from home. She also said it may be hard for people to create a support network around them that can notice immediately when someone in their life is treating them poorly.
“It’s sometimes harder to have a community that is reliable, and that’s why we talk about examples of healthy relationships, because it is important to realize the unhealthy relationships in your life,” Carrier said.
Fortier said Alpha Chi Omega’s philanthropy events have received a positive reaction from students.
“One in four women on campus, one in four women in the world, are at risk to be put in domestic violence situations,” Fortier said. “We want to make that statistic known. And for us, it is just important to be advocates and talk about the importance of being in a healthy relationship.”
