Law Students Coalition Against Domestic Violence Hold Advocacy Training Session

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - The Law Students Coalition Against Domestic Violence (LSCADV,) a newly registered student organization at the University of Arkansas, will hold an advocacy training session Saturday, Nov. 18, from 1 to 4 p.m. in the study lounge at the Leflar Law Center.

Norma Bryant, the volunteer coordinator for the Project for Victims of Family Violence, will train members and other interested law students, faculty and staff to volunteer in a variety of ways, including crisis hotline, victim advocacy and children’s services.

Elizabeth Echols, a second-year law student and the organization’s founder, decided to start the group after clerking at a local firm during the summer, where she worked in domestic relations.

"We represented both men and women in divorce actions dealing with domestic violence," she said. "I recognized there was a significant problem. I lost a lot of sleep over it. I decided I wanted to do something positive about it."

Echols approached the Registered Student Organization office on campus at the start of the school year to see if there was an organization she could become involved with and found there was no specific organization that dealt with the issue of domestic violence.

"There have been some that have taken this on as their outreach project," she said. "But there was no organization on campus that directly dealt with the issue."

The group had its first meeting in September and has received much support.

"We’ve had an incredible turnout, I think," Echols said. "Thirty people have expressed interest in joining the group and it’s growing all the time, more since we’ve had the memorial up."

The memorial Echols speaks of is the "Remember My Name" memorial that sits in front of the student study lounge in the Leflar Law Center. Designed by Echols, it is a unique freestanding structure constructed of barbed wire, wood and cinder blocks. It holds the names of women who have died as a result of domestic violence in the state of Arkansas since 1987.

"We could fit only about half the names on the memorial because of its size," Echols said.

The "Remember My Name" project is something that is done across the nation to remember those who have died as a result of domestic violence. In Little Rock, where it is presented as the "Arkansas Clothesline" project, survivors create tee shirts with their names and stories in remembrance of someone who has died. The shirts are hung on a huge clothesline at the state capitol during the month of October, Domestic Abuse Awareness month.

The "Remember My Name" memorial will remain at Leflar Law Center through the Nov. 18 training session.

"This project is a good example of student involvement in important community concerns," said Robert Moberly, dean of the UA School of Law. "It will hopefully carry over to their involvement in community affairs as practicing lawyers."

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