A handful of CSU East Bay students came eager to learn and increase their knowledge on the seemingly sensitive topic of Domestic Violence on Tuesday at the Diversity Center.

“I am very happy with the 30 something people that showed up,” said the Diversity Center’s new multicultural events coordinator, Heather Harbeck. “I thought that this event was a success because this is a type of event where it isn’t all about promoting, it’s more of getting people aware and interested in a sensitive topic.”

Harbeck, who recently took on the position of multicultural events coordinator, explains students often times have heard about domestic violence in general, but seldom know what to do when domestic violence is actually occurring.

Having experienced domestic violence on the university campus, Harbeck really believes it is a part of the university’s culture and it is “happening here.”

“I worked in housing for two years and I was not prepared to deal with domestic violence issues,” said Harbeck. “The worst one was when a couple of the roommates came out screaming, ‘she’s going to get beat up.’”

“We went to their building and you could hear things crashing. You could hear really loud noises. It was really intense,” said Harbeck. “The police showed up, knocked down the door, and ended up splitting the boyfriend’s head open in the process. There was blood everywhere.”

“The police jumped on the boyfriend and, on instinct, the girlfriend jumped on top of the police officer,” added Harbeck. “The most troubling thing for me in the end, was that I had nothing to tell the roommates. All I could say was, ‘I’m sorry,’” said Harbeck.

“People are blind. It goes beyond intimate relationships,” said CSUEB student Valerie Salcido.

Another advocate of informative domestic violence events is Jennifer Miranda, manager of Health and Wellness Services at CSUEB, who believes these events are effective on campus.  She adds though this event was mainly focused on people who live on campus, the information should be expanded to the community.

“In housing, we have a lot of students, a lot of them freshmen. But we also know that out of all the students at Cal State East Bay, there is only a small percentage who live on campus,” said Miranda.

Harbeck, who sympathized with Miranda’s concerns, stated one way they were trying to reach these off-campus students, was by making the domestic violence event during the day. Harbeck says it was meant to allow students who don’t live on campus, the opportunity to attend the event.

Often times, Miranda says, victims of domestic violence choose not to report it, in fear of being judged, so CSUEB’s Health and Wellness Center gives students more resources to issues of domestic violence. One of these resources is Safe Alternatives to Violent Environment a confidential, not-for-profit domestic violence organization in Fremont.

“We work with the University Police Department and the Hayward Police Department to teach people how to be aware of their surroundings, and feel empowered to have certain skills to make sure they stay safe,” said Miranda.

As domestic violence continues to affect high school and early college-age students, the goal for Harbeck and others at CSUEB’s Diversity Center, is to continue to make informational events like this available to students every quarter throughout the school year.

Kaliva Morgan contributed to this report.