By Olivia Bryant
CSC College Relations
CHADRON – Chadron State College will host a Dating and Domestic Violence seminar Wednesday in the Student Center’s Ballroom from 1 to 4 p.m. The conference, which includes keynote speakers Kathy O’Neil and Ron Blake and a panel of experts, is free and open to the public. All CSC Resident Advisors and other officers in specific clubs and organizations are required to attend, but it is open to other students, according to Associate Director of Residence Life Taylor Osmotherly.
The event will begin with O’Neil, who will talk about her daughter, the late Abigail Robertson, who was a victim of dating and domestic violence. O’Neil will discuss the Abby’s Voice Foundation for domestic violence awareness she launched in 2008 in her daughter’s honor to help educate the public about the threats teenage and young women may face.
From 2 to 3 p.m., a panel of experts will answer questions from the audience about dating and domestic violence. The panel will include: Monica Shambaugh, Executive Director of CAPstone, Lisa Peden Community Outreach Coordinator with DOVES, Ted Tewahade, Title IX Coordinator at CSC, O’Neil, and a representative of the Dawes County Sherriff’s Office. CSC graduate and attorney Danny Reynaga will moderate the panel.
Blake will be the final speaker at 3 p.m. He will share the account of his sexual assault that involved his life partner and two other men. After being diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder in the summer of 2014, Blake decided to speak about the topic of sexual assault at high schools, universities, and other dating violence awareness events.