WILSON, N.C. — September 25, 2019 — Members of the Wilson community are invited to join Barton College’s faculty, staff, and students for “Take Back The Night,” scheduled for Tuesday, Oct. 15, at 6 p.m. in Hardy Alumni Hall. The featured speaker for the evening will be Janine Latus, author of the international bestseller “If I Am Missing or Dead: a sister’s story of love, murder and liberation.” Sponsored and hosted by Barton College Student Health Services, in collaboration with the Wesley Shelter of Wilson, “Take Back The Night” is an annual program on campus that raises awareness about domestic violence. The event is open to the public at no charge, and the community is encouraged to attend.
Dr. Douglas N. Searcy, president of Barton College, and Lynne White, executive director of the Wesley Shelter, will bring welcoming remarks on behalf of each participating organization. Additional participants in the program will include Barton students, a survivor of domestic violence, and Captain Kendra Howell of the Wilson Police Department.
Barton’s Kinsey Bell will ring 12 times as 12 Barton organizations extinguish candles, one for each month, in memory of those lives lost annually as a result of domestic violence. Those groups are represented by members of Barton College student organizations.
Participants, who are able, will walk the Barton Mile around the perimeter of the campus with glow sticks in hand to honor those who have been affected by domestic violence. Representatives from the Barton College Football Team will lead the walk.
About the speaker —
Latus has spoken around the world on the spectrum of sexual assault and intimate partner violence — to the United States Navy, universities, shelters, family justice centers, and corporations. She believes that the idea “what happens in the home stays in the home” is getting people killed. Instead, she advocates for people to talk, to tell their stories, and, thus, to free others to tell their stories.
Originally a writer for national magazines including “O, the Oprah Magazine,” “Parents,” “Fitness,” “More,” and “Woman’s Day,” Latus became an advocate when her family suffered a great tragedy, and she realized it was time to talk. At this upcoming program, she will tell the audience why.
Latus uses her own family’s heart-breaking story to illustrate the red flags of abuse, to help audience members recognize these red flags in their own lives and in the lives of those around them, to intervene or ask for help, to break free or to help others to do so, and, then, to build a life of respect and freedom from fear.
Her talks are part story, part strategy, based on the Duluth Power & Control Wheel, and full of practical action items. Because her presentations are built upon a story, they resonate long after everyone has left the program.
For additional information, please contact Jennifer High, executive director of student health services, at 252-399-6397 or jmhigh@barton.edu.
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