The Women’s and Gender Studies department along with the APSU Feminist Majority Leadership Alliance held its international Clothesline Project on Oct. 10, to commemorate the lives of women impacted by abuse and violence.
Outside the university center, several students took part in making T-shirts with powerful messages.
This project first began in 1990 in Hyannis, Massachusetts where 31 shirts were hung as a memorial for women who had been abused.
APSU began to bring this project to the campus 21 years ago in the fall of 1997.
The sponsors of this event hold it on three separate occasions each year.
The Clothesline Project is a public display of shirts hanging on a line for many passersby to see and read about the victims’ stories.
Each color of the T-shirts represents a different story.
White symbolizes murder.
Blue or green represents incest and sexual abuse.
Yellow and tan are for victims of assault or domestic violence.
Red, pink and orange can all represent rape or sexual assault.
Purple and lavender are for violence because of sexual orientation.
Jill Eichhorn, the Coordinator of Women’s Studies at APSU, facilitates the event every time.
“I think it brings visibility to a layer of experience that everyone in our community is impacted by these stories, either someone’s personally survived – or someone they love has survived it,” Eichhorn said.
Many students were able to partake in Wednesday’s event due to volunteering and sheer interest.
Several students in the Women’s and Gender Studies department exchanged volunteer shifts to help out during the day.
“I had to do it for class but I’m happy to volunteer because it gives everyone a voice. It lets everybody have an essence of closure because it lets people show what they’ve been through.,” Sophomore Lily Alsbrook said,
The Clothesline Project is in place on campus to give people an outlet to release their pain in a way that is neither harmful nor problematic.
