Contact: James Carskadon

STARKVILLE, Miss.—Promoting public awareness and healing for those affected by violence, the Clothesline Project returns this week to Mississippi State.

During the free 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Tuesday-Thursday [Sept. 13-15] event, university students, faculty and staff will be encouraged to create designs for shirts to be displayed with others on a Drill Field clothesline.

Sponsored annually by MSU’s Department of Health Promotion and Wellness, the campus program is part of a national effort to aid the healing process for survivors of violence. Educating, raising awareness and providing a network of support, encouragement and information are other major goals. For more, see www.clotheslineproject.org.

Each day, participants will have an opportunity to produce a shirt design that reflects personal experiences with violence, or as a way to honor a friend or loved one affected by violence.

The available colors are meant to represent different types of violent acts. They include:

—Yellow, representing physical acts such as battery, assault or other intimate partner violence;

—Red, pink or orange, violence of rape or sexual assault;

—White, the memory of those that have lost their lives to violence;

—Blue or green, violence of incest or child abuse;

—Purple, violence associated with sexual orientation;

—Black, violence associated with political injustice; and

—Gray, a new category added this year to represent cyber violence.

For more information on the Clothesline Project at MSU, contact Leah Pylate, assistant director of Health, Promotion and Wellness at lpylate@saffairs.msstate.edu or graduate assistant Beth Serigny at bms592@saffairs.msstate.edu. The office telephone numbers are 662-325-7545 or 662-325-8322, for the hearing impaired.  

Details about other MSU Health Promotion and Wellness resources may be found at www.health.msstate.edu.

MSU is Mississippi’s leading university, available online at www.msstate.edu.