Students gathered around the Janie Fecker Garden for the Women’s Center’s annual Tulip Planting Ceremony, held in honor of Domestic Violence Awareness Month, at 4 p.m. last Tuesday.

Miyumi Fair, an intern with the Women’s Center, began the ceremony with a reading of recent domestic violence disputes in the Shippensburg area, some as fresh as the night before.

“You didn’t protect yourself,” Fair said, reading the words spoken by a judge to a woman who was beaten with a hammer by her boyfriend. The woman did not testify against her boyfriend, Fair said, causing the judge to find her in contempt of court, fining her $1,000 and putting her in jail for six months. The woman’s boyfriend was acquitted of attempted murder and charged only with aggravated assault, Fair said.

“We live in a society where violence is received as a normal behavior,” Sierra McCulloch, public education coordinator with Domestic Violence Services of Cumberland and Perry counties, told the crowd of students. “Our society places more emphasis on blaming victims in response to violence than holding the perpetrator of violence accountable.”

McCulloch explained that the culture of violence has run rampant for too long and that attention needs to be turned to it.

“We need accountability. We need to change the conversation to why do they abuse, and create a culture that supports and empowers survivors through this journey,” McCulloch said.

Resident assistant Nicky Rakintzis recounted her experience working at the Women’s Center, saying most of the people who visit the center just want someone with whom to talk.

“I’ve come to find that nine times out of 10 they just want someone to validate their story,” Rakintzis said. “They want someone to hear them. They want someone to hear their voice, to tell them they are not crazy. It’s not their fault.”

Brittney Leach, a training and education specialist for Women in Need, explained the significance of raising awareness of domestic violence.

“These events are so important because what I have been doing for the past five years is really talking about this, and those numbers never seem to drop,” Leach said. “We need to have more awareness, more people talking about this.”

Kappa Delta Phi fraternity brothers planted tulip buds in Janie Fecker Garden as students read personal accounts and experiences of domestic violence written on paper tulips. People in the crowd lowered their heads and shut their eyes in a moment of silence, led by professor Becky Ward, in honor of the lives taken by domestic violence.

“I thought that it was interesting how we can bring so many people together to make a big community on such a sensitive topic,” student Jaden Mauk said.

Stephanie Erdice, director of the Women’s Center, described the Tulip Planting Ceremony as a consistent effort to bring awareness to domestic violence both in the community and in a global perspective. 

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