Marlborough – Four Marlborough High School (MHS) student athletes joined Mayor Arthur Vigeant and other city and civil leaders at City Hall March 7 to publicly pledge their intentions to speak out against violence towards women.
The day, proclaimed “White Ribbon Day” in the city, was part of an international effort started by a Canadian group in 1991 to acknowledge the second anniversary of one man's massacre of 14 women in Montreal. That initiative, known as the White Ribbon Campaign (WRC), is now commemorated in 60 countries.
The MHS students – ?Erik Del Cid, Omar Vasquez, Mark Ney, and Mike Bjorkman – pledged in part, “From this day forward, I promise to be part of the solution in ending violence against women.”
Also participating in the ceremony were City Councilor-at-Large Katie Robey; Marlborough Junior Women's Club President Theresa Frias; General Federation of Women's Club Vice-President Sheila Shea; MHS Athletic Director Jeff Rudzinsky, and MHS teacher Tom Leard.
The event was especially poignant, Vigeant noted, coming a day after a young Wayland man, ?Nathaniel Fujita, was found guilty in the murder of his former girlfriend, Lauren Astley.
“The White Ribbon Campaign brings needed attention and discussion to the crisis of violence against women. I was honored to join with the GFWC Marlborough Junior Women's Club and some of our student athletes to bring greater awareness of this issue in our own community,” Vigeant said. “It was very uplifting to see these young men from MHS taking the pledge to stand up against domestic violence.”
“”From this day forward, I promise to be a part of the solution in ending violence against women.” It is a very simple pledge with a powerful message,” Robey said. “I urge everyone in the community to join the mayor, police officers, coaches and students who have taken the pledge as we change the social values among males which support and foster violence against women.”