In collaboration with Branches Domestic Violence Shelter, Marshall’s Title IX Office and the Violence Prevention & Response Program hosted an event for students, faculty and the community in light of Domestic Violence Awareness Month on Oct. 7. 

The event began with small table conversations followed by expert panelists discussing the complexities of toxic relationships and answering questions from the audience. 

The panel consisted of Marshall’s Wendy Perkins and Jaxson Miller and Branches’ Sara Blevins O’Toole and Shannon Petree Beckett. 

The panel’s discussion was recorded live for the Branches podcast, Root for Each Other, which can be found on Apple or Spotify podcasts.

Alyssa Hager, the Violence Prevention & Response Program coordinator at Marshall, moderated the live recording of the podcast. 

“The goal for today’s event is to bring a hot-button topic like ‘toxicity’ to the forefront of our events for Domestic Violence Awareness Month,” Hager said.

She went on to say, “I think it’s important to help students, staff and faculty alike understand the difference between toxic relationships and healthy conflict.”

The goal of the event was to help attendees to learn not only how to navigate toxic relationships, but learn how to build healthy boundaries within relationships and how to comfortably reinforce them.

There are many resources available to students, both on campus and off: the Violence Prevention & Response Program, Title IX Office, Branches and the Counseling Center. 

The Title IX Office and the Violence Prevention & Response Program is hosting another event Oct. 28, “Domestic Violence IS Your Business.” 

More information about the event can be found on HerdLink.

Ella Bumgardner can be contacted at [email protected].