FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Julie Thompson, substance abuse/sexual abuse services, (319) 273-2137
Vicki Grimes, University Marketing and Public Relations, (319) 273-2761
CEDAR FALLS, Iowa — University of Northern Iowa Wellness and Recreation Services will sponsor the Silent Witness National Initiative Display on the UNI Campus, Monday, Nov. 13 through Thursday, Nov. 16. The display consists of 30 life-size wooden figures, painted red, each bearing the name and story of an Iowa woman murdered as a result of domestic abuse.
The opening ceremony will take place at noon, Monday, Nov. 13, in the Maucker Union Hemisphere Lounge, where the display will be open for viewing from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mark Rowe, a senior English major from Menlo and peer health educator at the Wellness and Recreation Center, will make a brief presentation at the opening ceremony. Volunteers will read stories and poems to honor victims of domestic abuse.
The figures also will be on display Tuesday through Thursday in the Wellness Resource Lab, Room 104 in the Wellness/Recreation Center.
The Silent Witness Project was created in 1990 by a group of concerned female writers and authors in Minnesota, who formed the “Arts Action Against Domestic Violence.” The purpose of the display is to promote responsibility in adult relationships in order to eliminate domestic violence murders in the United States by the year 2010. All 50 states have developed Silent Witness initiatives designed after the Minnesota project.
In the past decade, 86 Iowa women were killed in domestic, dating or relationship abuse murders. Of the 86 women who were murdered, 36 had left or were planning to leave their partner. Three women were killed in child visitation exchanges, and two others were killed in front of a law enforcement officer.
On Tuesday, Nov. 14, “Hour of Honor” will be performed by the UNI Playback Theatre at 7 p.m., in Sabin Hall, Room 102. Several of the “silent witness” figures will be on display.
At 7 p.m., Wednesday, Nov. 15, Phyllis Baker, UNI professor associate professor and associate dean, will present “Back and Forth: Control, Culture and Battered Women,” in the Gallagher-Bluedorn Performing Arts Center lobby. Her presentation will be based on interviews and observation of women in battered women's shelters. Baker will also describe why battered women resist and comply with the cultural pressure to seek help. The Silent Witness exhibit will be open for viewing in the Gallagher-Bluedorn Performing Arts Center following Baker's presentation.
The display is free and open to the public. For more information, contact Julie Thompson, UNI substance abuse/sexual abuse services, at (319) 273-2137.
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Vince Gotera, associate professor and coordinator of the UNI creative writing program, (319) 273-7061
Vicki Grimes, Office of University Marketing and Public Relations, (319) 273-2761
CEDAR FALLS, Iowa— The University of Northern Iowa Visiting Writers Series will feature poet Lee Ann Roripaugh at 7 p.m., Thursday, Nov. 16, in Thompson Commons, Baker Hall, Room 161.
Roripaugh, an English professor at the University of South Dakota, will read poems from her book, “Beyond Heart Mountain,” which addresses Japanese-American experiences, particularly the Japanese internment during World War II.
“As the National Japanese-American Memorial is being dedicated in our nation's capital, it is fitting to honor the Japanese internees of World War II,” said Vince Gotera, associate professor and coordinator of the UNI creative writing program. “This is what Lee Ann Roripaugh does in her poetry, along with depicting Japanese-American life and culture with beauty and elegance.”
Roripaugh was born and raised in Laramie, Wyo. She studied piano performance and music history at Indiana University, where she then completed her MFA in poetry writing.
“Beyond Heart Mountain,” won wide recognition in the 1998 National Poetry Series. She also has won the Randall Jarrell International Poetry Prize. Her poems have appeared in magazines, such as “Parnassus,” “Crab Orchard Review,” “Louisville Review” and “Poet Lore.” She also has been featured in anthologies, including “American Poetry: The Next Generation” and “American Identities: Contemporary Multicultural Voices.”
The reading is co-sponsored by the following departments at UNI: Asian Studies; History; Sociology, Anthropology and Criminology; and English Language and Literature. The reading is free and open to the public.
For more information, contact Gotera at (319) 273-7061 or .
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