This year’s Yards for Yeardley -- the walk to remember and prevent domestic and dating violence -- set a modest goal of 1 million yards. The result exceeded that 20 times over.

The final tally for what became a month-long virtual event came in at 21,831,594 yards, said Lisa Evaneski, the college’s Title IX coordinator and lead event organizer. In all, 219 participants including faculty, students, staff, administration, alumni, community members and families turned in distances for the event.

Members of the campus community could participate by walking, running, rolling (skateboard, wheelchair, rollerskates/blades, bike) or any other physical activity where one can count miles, steps or yards -- and many found creative yet safe ways to do so. 

“Thanks to all of you that participated in Yards for Yeardley this year,” Evaneski said. “Shout out to our friends at Campus Rec who collaborated with us and shared Walking to Wellness steps towards our total. Huge thanks to Mackenzie Maxam and Rebecca Sessions from Beta Alpha Psi and the Accounting Society who tirelessly counted, updated and verified all of the yards for us daily!”

Oswego’s annual Yards for Yeardley supports the One Love Foundation, which honors the memory of University of Virginia student Yeardley Love, a senior in college when she was killed by her ex-boyfriend three weeks before graduation. The foundation works to promote awareness of relationship violence to prevent future acts.

Evaneski said SUNY Oswego, as a long-standing partner in the cause, received a special mention in the One Love Foundation’s May 3 virtual finish line event.