Healing Circle deals with abuse
Event aims to help women, men and children
By Jenny House
Staff Reporter
People who have been touched by
abuse can come together in a circle of
heal ing during an event this evening in
the UNL Culture Center.
During the Healing Circle, rituals
involving the four elements — air,
earth, fire and rain — will be per
formed as a way for individuals to
purge anger, vindication and other
emotions, said Judith Kriss, director
of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Women’s Center.
“The Healing Circle is a time for
anyone who has been touched by abuse
to come together,” she said.
Counselors will be available, and
refreshments will be served at the sec
ond annual event, which is sponsored
by the Women’s Center and Corner
stone. It begins at 6:30 p.m.
“Being in this environment helps,”
said Women’s Center volunteer Dawn
Nahhas, one of the Healing Circle co
ordinators. “Seeing other women go
ing through the same experience helps.”
Dr. Karen Lyons, president of the
Rape/Spouse Abuse Crisis Center and
another coordinator of the event, said
the Healing Circle reached people at
different stages of dealing with abuse
and claiming power for themselves.
She said becoming empowered was
the first step in the healing process.
Lyons emphasized that abuse —
domestic violence, sexual assault,rape
or battery — affected everyone.
Women’s Center volunteer Billy
Aplin, another Healing Circle coordi
nator, said physical abuse could cause
“For many ivomen who
are abused, their souls
are wounded, and this
personal, understanding
spirit connects to ones
source of being. ”
THE REV. MELISSA
DRAPER
Cornerstone
emotional and spiritual damage.
Family members, friends and chil
dren often struggle with their role or
with the helplessness of watching a
victim suffer.
“Abuse affects on many different
levels, all of a lifetime,” he said.
And healing is not an end product,
Aplin said — it’s a continuous pro
cess. Family and friends of victims
must understand a victim’s first step,
which is finding the courage to initiate
a healing process and building self
esteem.
And that victim isn’t necessarily
female, he said.
“Although women arc always seen
as the ones being abused, so are men,
just to lesser extents most of the time,”
Aplin said.
There needs to be leeway for feel
ing hurt, too, Aplin said, which is what
the Healing Circle is all about.
“Men have a problem being honest
about their role and how abuse affects
them,” he said. This happens because
they deal with problems with actions
instead of words, he said.
“When men are feeling, it is consid
ered a weakness to them,” he said.
“Men need to realize there is a strength
necessary to deal with abuse issues.”
Men cannot take the easy way out
by closing their emotions, he said.
Aplin suggested redefining mascu
linity by eliminating confusing myths
and generalizations about men abus
ing women. This will help men feel
less insecure, he said.
And children, too, must be consid
ered in this cycle, Aplin said. Children
who are abused or who witness abuse
eventually will treat people based on
how they have been treated.
This cycle can be remedied only
through education, facts and positive
role models, Aplin said.
“Healing requires being honest,
focusing anger on the right people,
loving in spite of anger, resolving is
sues by being reflective and using ex
perience in a pro-active way,” he said.
The Rev. Melissa Draper from Cor
nerstone said abuse also was not fe
male or male, but a human problem
resulting from a lack of respect and a
desire for control.
“For many women who arc abused,
their souls are wounded, and this per
sonal , understanding spirit connects to
one’s source of being,” Draper said.
The Healing Circle will honor dif
ferent beliefs — for some individuals
God is important to healing, she said,
but not for everyone.
“It is my hope through the Healing
Circle there is a real catalyst for heal
ing,” Draper said.
Phi Mu commemorates
75 years of service
By Erin Schulte
Staff Reporter
Although members ofUNL’s Phi
Mu sorority have moved from house
to house over time, the friendships
have remained a constant for 75
years.
Teresa Priefert, chapter adviser
and an alumna who graduated in
1985, is helping the sorority mem
bers plan 75th anniversary events
this week.
“Phi Mu is not something that’s
just four years — it’s a lifetime
commitment,” Priefert said.
Alumnae will be returning this
week during the anniversary cel
ebration to meet old friends, she
said. The sorority has planned a
banquet and formal dance for Sat
urday, and expects alumnae as old
as 90.
The banquet will provide a
chance for older alumnae to see old
friends, standards chairwoman Amy
Schupbach said.
“People that graduated in the
’50s and ’60s still keep in touch,”
Schupbach said. “It’s unique among
greek houses — the bond you can
make and keep between genera
tions.”
The Phi Mu national president,
Frances Mitchell, will be the key
note speaker at the banquet, said
Angie Watts, UNL Phi Mu chapter
president. Mitchell has never vis
ited UNL before, Watts said.
But Phi Mu isn’t just about
friendship.
Members agreed the sorority
contributed a lot to the community.
The Phi Mu national organiza
tion is the largest among greek
houses contributing to the
Children’s Miracle Network, which
grants terminally ill children their
wishes. It is also the largest con
tributor to Project Hope, which >
benefits hospital volunteers, Watts
said.
Sorority members also volun
teer at local levels.
Before Easter, Phi Mu held an
Easter egg hunt for Big Brothers/
Big Sisters volunteers and kids,
philanthropy chairwoman Cynlhe
Oliver said.
“It just took two hours out of our
Sunday, but it made a lot of kids
happy,” Watts said.
Through the years, the sorority
has called three different houses
around town “home,” said Brooke
Fleck, house manager.
When Phi Mu was founded at
UNL in April 1921, Fleck said, it
was located by the Capitol. During
World War I, greek houses for the
most part went “underground” and
operated off campus, she said.
After World War II, the greek
system came back on campus and
Phi Mu was located where the Wick
Alumni Center now sits, Fleck said.
The house, however, was falling
apart and was eventually tom down.
Members have since lived at
1125 N. 16th St., in houses built by
the university.
Pricfcrt said not much had
changed since she lived in the house,
and she enjoyed being chapter ad
viser.
“I think they’re a lovely bunch
of young women.”
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