As of the April 4 community-wide kickoff breakfast for the annual White Ribbon Campaign, Syracuse University is about halfway to its goal of 4,000 white ribbons, lapel pins and "NO DV FOR ME" wristbands sold to the SU community. The SU effort is in support of the Vera House Foundation's annual drive to raise support from men in putting an end to domestic violence.
Ribbons and wristbands are $1; lapel pins are $5; they are available from offices around campus by calling the Division of Student Affairs at 443-4357 or in the atrium of the Hildegarde and J. Myer Schine Student Center through April 7, from 11 a.m.-2 p.m. each day. All proceeds will support Alternatives, a Vera House-sponsored program for young people that focuses on relationship violence and ways to create healthy relationships. Alternatives has been supported in the past by grant funding, which is no longer available.
In wearing white ribbons during the campaign, men and women make a visual statement against supporting, committing or remaining silent about abuse. This year, SU is seeking to increase campus-wide participation in the campaign by more than 30 percent. Barry L. Wells, senior vice president and dean of student affairs, who served Vera House as honorary chair of the 2005 White Ribbon Campaign, and Elaine M. Cardone, associate director of the Office of Alumni Relations, are chairing SU's participation in the 2006 campaign.
Community-wide, Vera House anticipates that there will be more than 40,000 participants in Central New York. The honorary chair of the 2006 campaign is Daniel Hege, music director of the Syracuse Symphony Orchestra. Some 500
members of the community attended the April 4 breakfast, which was highlighted by remarks from Vera House's Jerome Hall and Chino Ingram, and a keynote address by Hege.
For more information on Vera House events,
visit http://www.verahouse.org or call
425-0818. For more information or to order ribbons, pins or wristbands, contact
the Office of the Senior Vice President for Student Affairs at 443-4357.
