Love Wins @ Howard

On Monday, February 14th, 2022, the first installment of the Love Wins @ Howard series was hosted at the Louis Stokes Health Sciences Library 4th floor from 5 PM-6:30 PM. The event was co-sponsored by Campus Life, Human Rights Campaign, the Howard University Center for Women, Gender and Global Leadership, and the Howard University Interpersonal Violence Prevention Program. The purpose of the event was to educate the participants on the keys to healthy relationships. This was accomplished by learning the importance of identifying the characteristics of healthy relationships and learning how to recognize unhealthy relationships. 

Workshop and discussion facilitators included Ms. Shakira Jarvis, the Interpersonal Violence Prevention Director, Mr. Ward, the Program Coordinator for the Office of Intercultural Affairs, Mr. Jose Cadiz, the Assistant Director for the Office of Intercultural Affairs, Dr. Jarpa Dawuni, an Associate Political Science professor, and Center for Women, Gender and Global Leadership Director, and Mr. Leslie Hall the Director of the Historically Black Colleges and Universities Program at Human Rights Campaign. Other figures in attendance were the oSTEM members Folasade Fashina, Danae Payne, Mia Rivers, and Dr. Ravi Perry, a Political Science Chair and professor who brought his Black Queer Politics class to participate. 

The interactive workshop was discussion-based, utilizing a circular seating arrangement to facilitate dialogue. This allowed participants the opportunity to share openly with the group in an intimate setting. After the hosts introduced themselves and their organizations, the audience branched out into groups. In the small group portion of the discussion, the facilitators used guided questions to examine both healthy and unhealthy relationships as well as the building blocks of healthy relationships, allowing attendees to learn from their peers and facilitators. 

The first Love Wins @ Howard event was a very open discussion and the environment allowed for a lot of valuable dialogue on the topic of healthy relationships. The Center is grateful to have been able to spend this past Valentine’s Day with students and faculty alike to share thoughts and experiences. This is the first of more conversations to come and we are thankful for the participants’ insight.