Local Happenings

WGS Activism Project

By Phia Huebner (shuebner@css.edu)

March 28, 2025

This semester’s Women’s and Gender Studies course, taught by Dr. Denise Starkey, has embarked on a multi-layered activism project regarding emotional relationship abuse. This class has members from all different backgrounds and majors who come together twice a week to discuss complex issues regarding the experiences of women and minority individuals. I can confidently say I have never taken part in a class as stimulating, invigorating, and enlightening as this one. 

The Women’s and Gender Studies Minor cohort is small but mighty. We come from a variety of majors from Bio to English to Social Work and have been working incredibly well together this semester. We felt this topic was important because of the lack of awareness regarding emotional abuse and the varying, somewhat unassuming ways that it can present in both platonic and romantic relationships. 

The project includes a table tent card that you may have seen around campus. It includes examples of red, yellow, and green relationship flags to outline what behaviors are healthy for a significant other to display. 

Additionally, there are posters hung up around campus titled “Ditch your Sitch(uationship)” which provides a list of behaviors that are considered emotional abuse within a romantic, platonic, or other personal relationship. QR codes at the bottom right of the poster lead to resources for navigating emotional abuse safely as well as a survey directed towards college students and the relationship dynamics in which they find themselves. 

The WGS cohort hopes to make an impact on students by collecting and analyzing data about relationship types in a college environment. The survey is completely anonymous and asks questions about specific relationship experiences and what resources were available in dealing with instances of relational abuse. By obtaining this information, we will be able to assess how prevalent emotional abuse is for St. Scholastica students and evaluate the resources that are available on campus and in the Duluth area.