Northwest Missouri State University’s Student Activities Council (SAC) will host Beverly Gooden, an activist and advocate for survivors of relationship violence and the creator of the viral hashtag #WhyIStayed, Oct. 6 as part of its “SAC Presents” series.

Gooden’s lecture, which is free and open to the public, begins at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 6, in the Charles Johnson Theater at the Olive DeLuce Fine Arts Building.

In conjunction with the lecture, SAC is collaborating with North Star Advocacy Center on a donation drive Oct. 4-6. Located in Maryville, North Star Advocacy provides a safe and nurturing place for victims of domestic violence and sexual assault.

“When planning for the fall, I knew October was National Domestic Violence Awareness Month and with that decided it would be the perfect opportunity to bring Ms. Gooden to discuss this topic along with speaking about her movement #WhyIStayed,” Sydnie Platt, SAC’s director of lecture programming and a senior Spanish major from Gardner, Kansas, said. “This message will be different than the ones many students have probably heard before. It will be an opportunity to hear about the importance of speaking up, not continuing victim-blaming, and overall people will leave feeling as though they can help to make an impact.” 

In her radical presentation, Gooden breaks down the myths and misunderstandings around domestic violence. She challenges the question “Why did he/she stay?” to illuminate the complex reasons why victims stay in abusive relationships and offers ways people can help. 

Drawing on her own gripping tale of overcoming an abusive relationship, Gooden provides audiences with a personal account of how it feels to live in fear and why it is difficult for individuals to leave those who exert physical and emotional control. With unguarded honesty and palpable passion for changing lives for the better, she empowers audiences to expose their own stories and discover their role in ending domestic violence.

Northwest’s Student Activities Council plans and administers activities for students to contribute to a more well-rounded social, recreational and cultural life on the Northwest campus and its community. For more information about SAC and its programming, visit www.nwmissouri.edu/getinvolved/sac/ or follow SAC on Twitter with @NW_SAC or https://www.facebook.com/NorthwestSAC.