On Wednesday, April 1, Bowling Green State University’s (BGSU) Yarn Storm will go up near the Bowen-Thompson Student Union (BTSU).
The Yarn Storm marks the beginning of Sexual Assault Awareness Month (SAAM), which raises awareness about sexual violence, helps educate communities on prevention and supports survivors.
BGSU’s Assistant Director of Interpersonal Relations, Kori Koschalk-Newmister, said the Yarn Storm began to raise awareness in 2021.
“Spring of 2021 was when the first Yarn Storm kind of happened. And what it looked like was one bench. They had enough stuff for one bench,” Koschalk-Newmister said.
Yarn storming is not a unique activity held at BGSU; it is often used in many ways in society.
“Yarn storming is typically seen as a social justice act, so it’s essentially non-permanent graffiti. A lot of artists use it as a way to send a message. And so we utilize it on campus to give visibility to sexual assault awareness month and to let survivors know that we see them and that we believe them,” Koschalk-Newmister said. “So we have several years of pieces that have been compiled that we put up year after year.”
Koschalk-Newmister said there are some new projects added to this year’s yarn storm.
“I’m excited this year. We have some really cool new editions. Someone made a dragon to go on the bike racks, so that is a really cool edition to the project. It’s just a great way for our campus community to have something that they can contribute to and then us being able to take over campus with teal and really let people know that we support this cause,” Koschalk-Newmister said.
The Yarn Storm is a recurring event at BGSU, intended to raise awareness and spark interest in what SAAM is and how to prevent sexual assault in the Bowling Green community.
“These are just topics [sexual assault] that I think people shy away from, so if we can be the people who are the catalyst to get people to talk, the conversations we have, the more we legitimize things like this and the more we can help shift our culture on campus to decrease sexual violence in out community and nationwide,” Koschalk-Newmister said.
