Those were the horrific words from a patient’s sister who stopped by P. Gay Baughman’s dental practice to deliver the tragic news several decades ago.Ěý

“I was a young dentist at the time and didn’t know what to do when the patient told me during an appointment prior to her death that she’d been hit by her boyfriend, and ever since I’ve been trying to make amends for what happened,” said Baughman, a professor at the School of Dentistry.

Baughman now teaches dental students to look for signs of domestic partner abuse, educating them to ask questions of patients including whether they feel safe at home, and helping students understand what resources are available to get help quickly for individuals at risk.

Annually, Baughman and a group of dental students, including members of the student chapter of the American Association of Women Dentists, join with the PEACC Center in Take Back the Night activities, an effort to protest sexual and relational violence and honor those who’ve been victimized.

This year, UofL’s Take Back the Night events kick-off with a resource fair April 4 at the Kornhauser Library Auditorium on the Health Sciences Center Campus. Scheduled to begin at 11:30 a.m., the event includes representation from the , , , , and . A workshop begins at noon and will educate participants on how to help a friend who has experienced power-based personal violence. The event also provides an opportunity to honor dental school alumna , who lost her life due to relational violence.

On April 6, a resource fair will be held at the Red Barn Plaza from noon to 2 p.m., followed by the “How to Help a Friend Workshop” at  2 p.m. in the Floyd Theater. Students, faculty and staff also are invited to take part in Chalk the Walk on the Belknap Campus beginning at 1 p.m. A virtual Take Back the Night tribute begins at 7 p.m. on Microsoft Teams. Learn more on the .

“If every student is equipped to help one person, what a difference that would make,” Baughman said.

Joining a number of other campus units and organizations, members of UofL’s chapter of the American Association of Women Dentists marched in honor of May 2017 graduate, Claire Van Landingham, DMD, Lt. U.S. Navy, who died Jan. 3 when she was gunned down in North Chicago by an ex-boyfriend.

The event lends a voice to individuals like Claire.

“Claire was a light to the world, someone who unconditionally cared for others,” said P. Gay Baughman, DMD, UofL’s AAWD chapter faculty advisor. “She had an enthusiasm for life that couldn’t go unnoticed and she touched the lives of so many.”

UofL’s Take Back the Night program is part of a national effort to unite individuals from all walks of life to speak out against violence, while drawing attention to resources available to help victims. The is the primary organizer of the event. This year’s theme was “To Rise Again.”

The free, public event will begin at 5 p.m. Tuesday, April 4, outside the George J. Howe Red Barn on Belknap Campus. The theme for this year’s event is “Surviving Together.”

The schedule includes:

• 5 p.m.: Resource Fair on the plaza outside
• 6:30 p.m.: Formal program inside, including special speakers, Speak Out session and a candlelight vigil
• 7:45 p.m.: march around campus begins

Speakers for the formal program include:

• Kentucky Deputy Attorney General J. Michael Brown
• Chicago writer corporeal artist, activist and speaker Isabel Abbott. She is the author of the poetry book “Salty + Honey”
• Kaila Story, Audre Lorde Chair in Race, Class, Gender and Sexuality Studies at UofL

Prevention, łÉČËÖ±˛Ą and Advocacy on Campus and in the Community (PEACC) hosts the event. The department coordinates campus prevention efforts as well as support to students, staff and faculty who are affected by dating or domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking and harassment.

Take Back the Night has been held on UofL’s campus since 2001.

For more information, contact Sally Evans.Ěý