TW: This article discusses topics of domestic violence, relationship abuse and unhealthy relationships. The following may be difficult to read and I encourage you to continue at your own discretion. One Love is a resource for people to turn to for help identifying unhealthy relationships.
College presents a new and exciting landscape for romantic relationships. Relationships in college involve new freedoms, like the ability to sleepover at your significant other’s place as often as you please. While having your partner at an arm’s reach sounds ideal, it can complicate maintaining your priorities and personal goals. I have put my relationships first at the expense of being true to myself. I was so eager to be in a relationship, I lost sight of what I was truly looking for and needed in a companion.
Without proper education, it’s easy to find yourself in an unhealthy relationship with seemingly no way out. Relationship education can help empower college students to identify and avoid abuse in their relationships and on their college campuses. This semester, One Love is coming back on Elon’s campus to help our community learn to love better. I spoke with Kelly Meyer and Caitlin Hogge, the co-presidents of Elon’s One Love chapter, about what One Love means to them and how students can get involved.
Q: What is One Love?
Kelly: “One Love is a nonprofit devoted to educating people about relationship health. The One Love Foundation was created in 2010 to honor the memory of Yeardley Love, a UVA senior who was tragically killed by her ex-boyfriend. One Love’s mission is to make sure that this doesn’t happen to others by educating young people about healthy and unhealthy relationships and empowering them to avoid abuse and learn how to love better. One Love focuses on all kinds of relationships, not just romantic ones.”
Q: What does One Love mean to you?
Kelly: “To me, One Love is about empowerment and cultivating awareness through education. One Love is a safe and inclusive space to learn, share and love. It works to end stigmas around domestic abuse and violence and takes action against this preventable epidemic. What I find so special about One Love, is that it is an active movement for social change that unites young people globally. One Love saves lives and reshapes what it means to love.”
Caitlin: “One Love is all about education and giving people the resources that they need to identify potentially dangerous situations. Relationship abuse is far more common than one might think, some people might not even realize they are in an abusive relationship. When people think of abuse they think of strictly physical, but there can be severe emotional abuse as well. One Love is so important because of its reach and educational resources that can truly help people, which is why this organization means so much to me. It means creating a community filled with support.”
Q: Why did you want to bring One Love back to Elon?
Caitlin: “We wanted to bring One Love back to Elon because it is such an important organization with so many resources. Relationship challenges are common on a college campus, whether it be romantic or friends. It is important to educate others about the signs of abuse so that we can all be better informed and hopefully step up and create change. One of the biggest aspects of One Love at Elon is talking to fraternities and sororities giving them educational resources to help identify abuse and also learn how to deal with it if someone they know is experiencing abuse. We wanted to bring it back to Elon because of how important it is to have conversations like this, especially on a college campus.”
Q: How will One Love benefit the Elon community?
Kelly: “The Elon community will benefit tremendously from having One Love on campus. Over 1 in 3 women, 1 in 4 men and 1 in 2 trans or non-binary people will experience relationship abuse in their lifetime. Through One Love, students at Elon can get the resources and tools they need to identify the signs of an unhealthy relationship while helping each other in the process.”
Q: How can Elon students get involved?
Both: “We are thrilled to announce the relaunch of One Love at Elon and welcome everyone interested to join! New members or students who have questions about the program can DM the One Love Elon team on Instagram @oneloveelon.”