Nearly 400 SUNY Geneseo students, faculty, staff and community members walked 1.2 million yards during the “Yards for Yeardley” walk on campus April 26 to raise awareness of relationship violence and ways to prevent it.
The national program enlists students from campuses across the nation to participate in the walk in memory of Yeardley Love, a lacrosse player at the University of Virginia who was killed by her ex-boyfriend in 2010.
The Geneseo event is a partnership between the State University of New York Athletic Conference’s (SUNYAC) Student-Athlete Advisory Committee and the One Love Foundation, founded to honor the memory of Yeardley, to raise awareness about the warning signs of abuse, and to activate communities to work to change the statistics around relationship violence.
“Our campus took a significant stand against relationship violence with this walk, and we exceeded our goal of one million yards thanks to the commitment of our participants,” said Liam Welsh, associate director of intercollegiate athletics and recreation at Geneseo. “The success of the event is an example of the college’s commitment to end relationship violence, and we plan to make it an annual event to keep the issue at the forefront on campus.”
The One Love Foundation says that relationship violence is a societal epidemic, affecting people of every age, race, class, gender and sexual orientation.
Media Contact:
David Irwin
College Communications & Marketing
(585) 245-5529
Irwin@geneseo.edu