Monday, May 5, 2008 11:54 AM CDT
'Girlfighter' to EIU grads: Life's doors will open up
By ROB STROUD, Staff Writer
rstroud@jg-tc.com
CHARLESTON -- When Erin Weed graduated from Eastern Illinois University in 1999, her friend Shannon McNamara celebrated with her at a surprise graduation party.
“It was people like her that made it so incredibly difficult to leave this place when it was time to graduate,” Weed, founder of the Girls Fight Back program, said as she addressed EIU graduates during the commencement ceremony at noon Saturday in Lantz Arena.
Weed said she was in New York pursuing what she thought was her life’s mission, television production, when her received a telephone call that would ultimately change this mission. She learned that her friend McNamara was murdered on June 12, 2001, in her Charleston apartment.
“That was one of those moments when you really feel your entire life shift. I saw everything in a different light,” Weed said.
While attending McNamara’s funeral, Weed said she began thinking about how many women live in fear of being attacked. Weed said she wanted to do something about these feelings of fear, but was not sure what action to take.
Back in New York, Weed said fear prompted her to check every closet in her home for “bad guys” after she would return from grocery shopping. Weed said she realized she could either let the fear eat her alive or channel her feelings into something great.
“I decided to fight back,” Weed said.
Weed said she spent the subsequent months seeking out training from authorities in several different self-defense and violence-prevention skills.
“At the end of that training, I decided it was time to take this to other women,” Weed said.
In October 2001, Weed kicked off her Girls Fight Back program with a seminar on Eastern’s campus. Her continuing goal is to teach women to live safe and empowered lives.
Weed is now a professional speaker, author, radio host, violence-prevention advocate and self-defense instructor. She is in the process of shooting her first documentary, “Journey of a Girlfighter.” She has received significant national media exposure and several awards for her work, including the EIU Young Alumnus of the Year Award in 2003.
The Girls Fight Back founder said she has pursued this mission with the support of McNamara’s family as well as Eastern.
“The people here back you. The people here send you off to change the world,” Weed said.
Weed said sometimes people’s mission in life will find them, as it did in her case. Weed told the graduates that they have time to find their purpose in life and that a door will open for them. She advised them to be willing to start small, give of themselves, learn continuously, and fight for what they want.
In closing, Weed recalled helping a developmentally disabled friend of the McNamara family collect donations for a charity recently at a Wal-Mart. Weed said she became nervous as an intimidating man approached her friend. However, she said this man offered all the change from his pocket and said, “It ain’t much but it’s all I have got.”
“He reminded me what we are here for. We are here to help each other,” Weed said. “Do not underestimate what can happen to make a difference in the world when you give a little when it’s all you have got.”
After Weed finished speaking, EIU President William Perry took the stage and said that he has heard a lot of commencement speeches during his 37 years working in higher education.
“That is right up there at the top,” Perry said.
Contact Rob Stroud at rstroud@jg-tc.com or 348-5734.
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