The late arrival -- or non-arrival, as some might opine -- of spring-like weather has necessitated the change in venue for the "Around the World for Yeardley Awareness Walk" on campus Wednesday.
Instead of being held outside, the walk, spearheaded by the Fredonia Student-Athlete Advisory Council, has been moved to inside the Steele Hall Fieldhouse and the hours changed from 1 p.m. to 9 p.m.
There is no cost to participate and people are invited to walk or run around the course. To register, go online.
Senior swimmer Ben Chatley, president of the Fredonia Student-Athlete Advisory Council and past SUNYAC SAAC president, announced the change Tuesday afternoon in an e-mail to students, staff, and other campus constituents.
"Due to the weather, Fredonia's Around the World for Yeardley campaign will be moved to the Steele Hall Fieldhouse from 1-9 p.m." Chatley wrote. "Registration will be at the lower level entrance and will run throughout the day. This was a last-minute decision, as we hoped that the weather would cooperate for our event.
"The distances for prizes will change slightly however we will will offer t-shirts to the first 500 people to walk 10 laps of our track. After the 10th lap, for every two laps extra will result in earning a raffle ticket for our numerous prizes. Please contact your teams and staff and put the location and time changes on any and all social media accounts you may have in hopes to still draw attention to our event in Steele. We can still do this, I know it!
"With this time change, we will move the initial set-up time from 9 a.m. Some athletes may begin to walk as early as 9 a.m. due to home or away competitions. The full event, however, will start at 1 p.m."
Around for World for Yeardley walks are scheduled by all SUNYAC schools throughout April as a way to draw attention to relationship violence. It's the second year conference schools will be teaming with the One Love Foundation, which was organized by family and friends of Yeardley Love, a University of Virginia women's lacrosse played who was brutally beaten to death by her ex-boyfriend.
SUNYAC schools will engage in a friendly competition to see which of the institutions walk the most miles.
"This event," said Fredonia senior men's swimmer and SUNYAC SAAC President Ben Chatley, "is about more than one school competing against another. It is an opportunity for us all to push back against relationship violence on each of our campuses and have us be declared the victors. I am ecstatic to see exactly what the participating schools, especially the SUNYAC, can do throughout this month-long campaign ..."
“SUNY 'Yards for Yeardley' campus events are driven by our students, which is a testament to their commitment to end relationship abuse and protect their fellow students and people in their local communities,” said SUNY Chancellor Kristina M. Johnson. “On behalf of the SUNY family, I am pleased to support this program. My thanks to Fredonia for the yards covered by students, faculty, staff, and the community.”
