Cecil B. Day Graduate and Professional Campus Observing Domestic Violence Awareness Month

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ATLANTA – Mercer University will welcome licensed professional counselor Ayonna Johnson to the Cecil B. Day Graduate and Professional Campus in Atlanta on Monday in observance of Domestic Violence Awareness Month.

Johnson, who is director of legal services at the Women's Resource Center to End Domestic Violence in Decatur, will speak from 12-1 p.m. at a “Lunch and Learn Event” in Wooten Auditorium.

The event – organized by the Atlanta Student Affairs Division, Student Health and Counseling, and Penfield College's Department of Counseling and Human Sciences – is open to students, faculty and staff. The first 50 students in attendance will receive a free lunch.

“Since domestic violence knows no cultural or socioeconomic barriers, it is important for our Mercer community to be aware and learn how to reach out to others who may be in an abusive relationship,” said Claire C. Dyes, dean of students on the Atlanta campus.

Those in attendance at the event will receive a purple ribbon to wear on Thursday, Oct. 23, as part of the larger, national observance of October as Domestic Violence Awareness Month. The National Coalition Against Domestic Violence first organized Domestic Violence Awareness Month in 1987, and it was first commemorated through legislation in the U.S. Congress in 1989.

Johnson has been working with trauma survivors for over a decade. She specializes in issues concerning domestic violence and abuse dynamics, stalking and complexities associated with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and anxiety in individuals seeking justice from the legal system.

Also in observance of Domestic Violence Awareness Month, the Monroe F. Swilley Jr. Library on campus is collecting used cell phones through Oct. 31 to support the efforts of domestic violence survivors to live violence free. Phones in working and nonworking condition can be dropped off in the donation box at the circulation desk.

For more information, contact Richard Stilley, assistant dean of campus life, at (678) 547-6823 or stilley_r@mercer.edu.