What do healthy relationships look like—and what are signs your relationship or that of someone you know is unhealthy? More important, if you see troubling signs what should you do and where can you find help on campus or in the community?

These questions will be the focus of a presentation by Elizabeth Cowley of the One Love Foundation on Thursday, April 4, at 6:30 p.m. The event will take place in the Siciliano Auditorium at Gardner Commons.

Cowley’s visit to the U campus is being sponsored by Resilient U, the healthy relationships working group formed by President Ruth Watkins about relationship health. This event coincides with campus-wide efforts to enhance safety at the U following the murder of Lauren McCluskey.

The working group is co-chaired by Kwynn Gonzalez-Pons, a doctoral student in the College of Social Work, and Laura Snow, university community relations officer. Gonzalez-Pons said the group hopes to increase understanding and awareness of healthy relationship dynamics in all types of interactions—romantic, friends, peers, colleagues, etc.

The One Love Foundation is the national leader in educating young people about healthy and unhealthy relationships. Since 2010, One Love has educated more than half a million people with its core educational curriculum and discussion guides inspiring young people to be leaders driving change in their communities.

Through film-based workshops that demonstrate the difference between healthy and unhealthy relationships One Love teaches young people the importance of healthy relationships and empowers them to love better.

Cowley is the foundation’s engagement coordinator. In addition to Thursday’s conversation, Cowley will lead three workshops on Friday (see box).

One Love was founded in honor of Yeardley Love, a 22-year-old college student who was killed by her ex-boyfriend. After her death, the family started the One Love Foundation to educate young people about the difference between healthy and unhealthy relationships. One Love’s mission is to enable young people to identify unhealthy behaviors in order to stop abuse before it starts.

“At One Love, we believe that the more we know about how to identify and navigate healthy and unhealthy relationship behaviors, the less likely we will be to end up in abusive relationships,” said Cowley.

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Healthy Relationship trainings

In addition to the guided conversation on Thursday, April 4, Elizabeth Cowley of the One Love Foundation will lead three training sessions on healthy relationships.

Friday, April 5, 2019
10 a.m. | 11:45 a.m. | 1:15 p.m.
Olpin Union Building, Panorama East Room

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