UB Nursing to sponsor ‘The Clothesline Project’: Fighting violence against women

BUFFALO N.Y. -- Lucille A. Coady, University at Buffalo clinical nursing instructor, recalls the very personal quotes painted on a T-shirt made by her 19-year old daughter for the Clothesline Project while she was a student at SUNY Brockport. 

 I HATE you for what you did.

You took away my friends.

You destroyed my dignity.

You stole my identity.
BUT...
I thank you for making me strong.

You gave me a voice.

You showed me my intuition.

You pushed me to stand for me.

“It made me cry with her and for her; it made me angry that my daughter was a victim; it made me feel powerless to protect her; it made me proud of her resilience to endure and it gave me hope,” said Coady.

“As a mother, a midwife, a professor, a woman, a sister, an aunt, a friend and a nurse, the Clothesline Project provided me with inspiration.

“I wanted to bring the project to UB,” she said.

This year for the first time, the University at Buffalo School of Nursing is able to host the Clothesline Project on the UB campus because of a Grassroots Grant that Coady applied for from the American Association of University Women (AAUW). 

The Clothesline Project is a visual display that bears witness to the violence against women. During the public display, a clothesline is hung with T-shirts. Each shirt is decorated to represent a particular woman’s experience and typically expresses the feelings of the survivor or someone who cares about her. 

Traditionally the project, which started on Cape Cod, Massachusetts in 1990, takes place on college and university campuses.

Along with the T-shirts that provide women a voice, bed sheets are hung from a clothesline with the words, “These hands will never harm a woman,” and men are invited to place their hand prints on the sheets.

“As a professor of nursing, I must impart the importance of community connectedness to students through community service and outreach,” said Coady.  “UB’s Clothesline Project will include several events nursing students will participate in on our campus as well as involvement from UB Football Coach Jeff Quinn and team, the UB School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences and the Western New York community.”

UB Clothesline Project activities include the following.

On April 8, 2:30 p.m., at UB Stadium:

• Mary Travers Murphy, executive director of the Family Justice Center, which assists victims of domestic violence, will meet with members of the UB Bulls football team to address the issue of violence against women

On April 9, 5:00 p.m., at UB Stadium:

• Coach Quinn and members of the UB Bulls football team will place their handprints on sheets to pledge their support.

On April 12, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., in the UB Student Union (and outside if weather allows):

• UB nursing students will assist other students in the creation of T-shirts and the display of T-shirts.
•  Students and faculty from UB School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences will display their hand prints on a sheet and the UB football team’s sheet will be displayed
• The T-shirts will be on display inside the UB Student Union until Sunday, April 14.

Sub Board has also volunteered its assistance with the project.

UB will provide T-shirts at no charge to women or their families who wish to participate.

T-shirts can be made or dropped off on the 4^th floor of Michael Hall on UB’s South Campus in room 414 on April 2^nd and 4^th 12 p.m. – 5 p.m.

T-shirts can also be dropped off at Wellness Education Services (WES), 114 Student Union on UB’s North Campus and the School of Nursing, Wende Hall outside of the administration offices on UB’s South Campus.

“Violence against women happens every day and it will not change if we as a society do not address the causes and promote intolerance of injustice. To bring it back to our campus community, as I speak with my students on the topic, they all agree that all parents have in the back or fore of their minds as they send their daughters off to college, ‘I hope she is safe,’” said Coady.