AU's first annual "Breastival" was held on the quad Saturday in order to raise awareness about breast cancer and other women's issues.
The event which was sponsored by the Women's Initiative, featured free games such as "pin the boob on Clawdette" and "water-boob darts," as well as music, free food, and information from several women's organizations.
According to Women's Initiative Director Jen Smyers, the Breastival was intended to promote women's health issues to a demographic not usually concerned about them.
"Over 11,500 women under 30 will be diagnosed with breast cancer within one year," Smyers said. "Traditionally, college-aged women don't think breast cancer concerns them. This was a fun way to bring an advocacy-based event to campus. No one wants to sit in a lecture about women's health."
In addition to the Women's Initiative, sponsors included the Dean of Students office, RHA, SUB, Bon Appetit and the KJHLKJ fraternity. Organizations such as Active Minds, the D.C. Crisis Center, Take Back the Night and Planned Parenthood distributed information at the Breastival. Students could then fill out bingo cards answering questions based on the information they had received in order to win a free lunch.
Inside the Mary Graydon Center, instructional workshops allowed students to learn about meditation, breast self-exams and participate in "cardio-dance funk." Entertainment was provided by a DJ and singer Mara Levi performed.
"It was really fun," said Melissa Darr, a sophomore in the School of Public Affairs. "All the cute little activities made it less of a not-talked-about subject. I liked the celebrity boob-matching game."
According to Director of Breast Cancer Awareness for the Women's Initiative Danielle Hanafin, about 600 students came to the event,
"We've had a lot of positive feedback," Hanafin said. "For the first year, we couldn't have asked for a better turnout. The end result was definitely worth the hard five months of work we put into this."
The day began with a Survivor's Walk, where four speakers shared accounts of their battle with breast cancer.
"Hopefully the Survivor's Walk ingrained in young people's minds that no matter how old you are, breast cancer can affect you," Hanafin said. "A lot of people were moved by their stories."
To conclude the event, a luminary ceremony honoring both the survivors and victims of breast cancer was held.
"It's nice to see groups of women coming together in such a positive fashion to learn how to take care of ourselves," Nkiru Nnawulezi, a sophomore in the College of Arts and Sciences, said. "I don't think we do that enough"
