Canton, NY – SUNY Canton students, staff and the surrounding community took to the track on Thursday in the Roos House and more than 175 participants combined to walk over 548,000 yards in support of Yards for Yeardley on April 12th, 2018.
 
SUNY Canton is one of just 26 SUNY campuses who partnered with One Love Foundation to support "Yards for Yeardley" during the month of April. The events are designed to raise awareness and provide education to end relationship abuse.
 
SUNY Canton's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) spearheaded the event that saw 183 participants walk 548,640 total yards. Francesco Palumbo, a senior on the baseball team led the way with 28,160 yards walked, while Shea Norton, a sophomore on the women's volleyball team, walked a total of 22,880 yards.
 
According to the One Love Foundation, one in three women and one in four men experience a violent relationship in their lifetime. Yards for Yeardley's mission is to raise community awareness and activism surrounding relationship abuse through education and fostering dialogue between young people and their peers about warning signs of unhealthy relationships.
 
Created by three women on the Boston College and University of Virginia lacrosse teams in 2014, 'Yards for Yeardley' honors Yeardley Love who was abused and killed by her former romantic partner just weeks before her graduation. The initiative is run by the organization One Love, which was founded in 2010 to honor Yeardley and ensure everyone understands the difference between a healthy and unhealthy relationship.  
SUNY campuses participating this year include: Alfred State College, Binghamton University, College at Brockport, Buffalo State, SUNY Canton, Corning Community College, SUNY Cortland, Empire State College, Erie Community College, Farmingdale State College, Fashion Institute of Technology, SUNY Fredonia, SUNY Geneseo, Herkimer Community College, Maritime College, Monroe Community College, SUNY New Paltz, North Country Community College, SUNY Oneonta, SUNY Oswego, SUNY Plattsburgh, SUNY Polytechnic Institute (Utica), SUNY Potsdam, Purchase College, Stony Brook University, and Tompkins Cortland Community College. Visit campus websites to learn more about specific activities taking place.
 
"SUNY "Yards for Yeardley" campus events are driven by our students, which is a testament to their commitment to end relationship abuse and protect their fellow students and people in their local communities," said SUNY Chancellor Kristina M. Johnson. "On behalf of the SUNY family, I am pleased to support this program, which is by far the largest of its kind in the nation, to help incite lasting change."
 
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About SUNY Canton
SUNY Canton is Northern New York's premier college for career-driven bachelor's degrees, associate degrees and professional certificate programs. The college delivers quality hands-on programs in engineering technology, health, management and public service and recently received number one rankings in library resources, library services and tutoring services in the SUNY Student Opinion Survey. The college's faculty members are noted for their professional real-world experience in addition to outstanding academic credentials. SUNY Canton OnLine offers hundreds of flexible and convenient courses as well as 13 exclusively online degrees. The college's 15 athletic teams compete at the NCAA Division III level and are joining the North Atlantic Conference beginning in the 2018-19 academic year.