By: Paige Scofield
Campus Life Editor

The holiday Valentine’s Day is often filled with romance and tender moments between partners, but Western’s Abby’s House decided to celebrate Valentine’s Day a different way, with two different events on campus.

On Feb. 13, Abby’s House held an event in the Werner University Center called Palentine’s Day. This event was held for those who wished to show their love in a platonic way rather than in a romantic way to those they care for. Nikki Wood, a senior communications major and Abby’s House volunteer advocate who created the event, said she was inspired by the popular holiday, “Galentine’s Day,” from the hit television series “Parks and Rec” starring Amy Poehler.

“We wanted to be more gender neutral and include everybody for a celebration of friendship, so we called it Palentine’s Day,” said Wood. “I did the table during my office hours, and basically we just had hearts that people could write messages to their friends on and we had chocolate and stuff.”

This event was free to any who wanted to participate in making Valentine’s for those they care about.

“Celebrating friendship and platonic relationships is really important. We put a lot of emphasis on romantic love,” concluded Wood.

On Feb. 14, Abby’s House held the event, “1 Billion Rising: Revolution,” in solidarity against the exploitation of women. The event was held on the Werner University Center Plaza, and incorporated handprints to create a message of support and awareness for women’s issues including: physical or sexual abuse, human trafficking, reproductive rights, intimate partner violence and cultural appropriation.

“1 Billion Rising is an organization that puts on events on Valentine’s Day, to build awareness about different issues surrounding women,” said Hailey Wren, a junior elementary education major and Abby’s House volunteer advocate. “Specifically about how one billion, and rising, women are affected by assault sexually or if they’ve experienced violence in their lifetime. This year we’re talking about the exploitation of women around the world.”

When asked why she thought it was important to have events like this on Western’s campus, Wren answered, “Because it’s something that I feel like we think happens elsewhere, and we don’t realize that it actually happens here, it happens on our campus, happens in our state and in our country.”

Christina Garcia, a sophomore community health/public health major and Abby’s House volunteer advocate, explained why it’s important to hold an event like this on Valentine’s Day: “It’s very significant, because it gives students something to think about. People need to be aware of the issues that go on on campus and around the world,” said Garcia. “1 Billion Rising is something that happens around the world, but we like to hold this event on campus, so we can do a little extra.”

Abby’s House is located downstairs in the Werner University Center and is a open place for anyone to come if they need help or if they just want a place to relax. In the future, Abby’s House will be holding many more events on Western’s campus. If interested in future Abby’s House events, or looking for more information on Abby’s House, visit wou.edu/abbyshouse, call at 503-838-8219 or visit their office.

Contact the author at journalcampuslife@wou.edu