The Clothesline Project, a national campaign that originated on Cape Cod during the 1990s to address the issue of violence against women, took its message this month to the Valentine Quad. The shirts hanging illustrate the feelings of victims and their loved ones, as well as increase awareness about the dangers and effects of sexual violence. Each year, the College, along with many other organizations, businesses and schools worldwide, participates in this campaign.

The first day that the clotheslines were up, I walked around the quad reading the shirts with my friends. One shirt particularly stood out to me because it was a letter from the husband of a sexual abuse survivor to the man who had abused his wife. My friends and I were not alone in our interest in the project. During the course of the project I noticed many others - students, faculty and staff alike - wandering through the clothesline to read the shirts. The project reached a large number of people, and after reading the messages, each person hopefully understood at least a little more about the effects of sexual violence. Many students consider the project beneficial, though depressing, because it serves as a reminder that violence is not always brought to everyone's attention. People are forced to realize the part they play in preventing sexual violence or in helping survivors. "I thought it was really stirring and captivating - you had to look at it as you walked by," Emily Frigueroa '11 said. "The only thing was that, even now, I don't quite understand what it was or what the point was. Was it just to raise awareness? Because if so, then mission accomplished."

Other students thought the project could have had a more profound impact. "I didn't look at it that much. But I saw it when I passed by. Some shirts caught my eye though, and many were very profound," Michael Harrington '11 said. "But the shirts didn't have much meaning to me because there were no faces. The voices were still silenced; it didn't have a huge effect on me." He is not the only one whom the project failed to impress. Some students said that they have become desensitized to such appeals because these prevalent campaigns have become a part of everyday life. Others, like Kalan Rutstein '11, "thought it was an art project," suggesting that it could have been clearer in presentation. Students who were less affected by the messages on the shirts said that knowing the person who wrote the message would greatly increase the potency of the project.

I agree that hearing the words directly from a survivor would have a more powerful, personal effect. It would no longer be just a story that we read about in the newspaper or on a shirt. Despite the need for a more personal touch, the project impacted the campus and raised awareness of sexual violence.