Dr. Art Malloy is the UND Vice President of Student Affairs and a member of the CVIC executive board of directors. Dr. Malloy believes education is prevention. We learn why in this beautiful story of friendship, courage and community connection.
Almost dinner time.
The smell of Mrs. Malloy’s famous fried chicken coming from the kitchen. A young Art Malloy patiently waiting at the table with napkins at the ready.
Bang, bang, bang!
Three frantic knocks at the back door.
Mrs. Malloy’s instincts went off. “I’ve heard that knock before,” she said.
She opened the door. It was a stranger with fresh bruises on her face. Her clothes had been ripped apart and pulled loose. Her eyes had the raw look of having recently survived something terrible.
“It was him again, wasn’t it?” Mrs. Malloy asked, pulling the woman inside slamming the door shut and locking it.
That’s when Art realized the person wasn’t a stranger at all.
She was a neighbor, his favorite one. His mother’s best friend. His aunt-from-another-family.
“Her name was Hattie,” he said.
That night and for many weeks afterwards, Hattie was a special guest in the Malloy home. The church community took her into their arms. She was wrapped in a haven of safety when she needed it most.
Hattie was Art’s first lesson in advocating for survivors.
“I was a little boy, but when I became an adult working in higher education, I saw so many things that led me to believe that as an educator, I have always had a role to play in the fight to end violence,” Malloy said. “Nobody hurt Hattie.”
Finding the words
Growing up, witnessing someone he cared deeply about begin their survivor journey left an indelible mark on Malloy.
“Before she found shelter with us, I had seen Hattie’s husband Stan drag her down the street by her hair. He hit her often, and verbally abused her frequently,” he said. “I never saw violence in my home and those types of things that we saw happen to Hattie were not a part of anything I had experienced before. Right off the bat, I knew what Stan did was wrong, but I didn’t have the words for that yet.”
His parents did. Malloy’s father was a kind and loving pastor. His mother raised everyone on compassion, respect and speaking out against injustices when they were witnessed. But what Malloy remembers the most about his family standing in as an ersatz shelter when few survivor resources existed was knowing he had a role to play.
But first, the universe wasn’t done putting him into the role of bystander.
As a teenager, Malloy witnessed a gang rape in his neighborhood.
Malloy added, “I kept asking myself, ‘how can this keep happening and does anyone care?’ “
Later, as a higher education professional, he listened to students share accounts on and off-campus sexual assaults. In those cases, the victim were strangers, but each incident resulted in vivid memories of Hattie’s bruised face showing up at the door of his home at dinnertime when he was a child.
Upon further investigation of the incident, Malloy realized the assault went much deeper.
“I learned that students were getting work as escorts, which we now know is a form of human trafficking,” Malloy said.
The incident spurred Malloy’s interest in stopping sex trafficking and child mistreatment in Atlanta, efforts he led for several years before moving to Grand Forks and joining the UND community.
“No one should ever be afraid of being assaulted while trying to get an education,” Malloy said. “I think what I learned seeing Hattie go through what she did with Stan is that each of us has the power to stop violence when we see it. Whether as bystanders like our family was or as advocates like I am today, that lesson really led me to my belief that education is key to ending abuse on campus and in our community.”
A huge incentive to serve UND is the university’s longstanding commitment to abuse prevention and education.
CVIC at UND has been a campus program for many years, bringing educational services, resources and activities to the school’s students, faculty and staff. The curriculum is casual and fits in on campus just like any other program, something Malloy said makes a huge difference in the community’s comfort level around sensitive topics like abuse.
“There is no doubt that students feel safer because CVIC is here on campus. There is no doubt that our faculty benefits from the educational sessions advocates provide to promote violence prevention on campus,” he said. “And there is no doubt that everybody loves the fact that they have somewhere to go if there are questions about interpersonal safety, whether in the residence halls or just walking down the quad.”
‘Nothing from nothing leaves nothing’
Malloy admits that being Hattie’s safe haven turned out positively, which isn’t always the case.
His mother helped Hattie regain her strength—and find a voice for herself when Stan got scary. Art’s father eventually “had words” with Stan, too. Not putting the fear in God into the man, but to remind Stan that his responsibility was to fix what he’d broken.
“And you know, it worked, because Hattie went back to Stan and he never touched her again. They had a very successful marriage after that,” Art said.
Hattie’s story was an uncommon outcome, Art acknowledges, and he emphasizes that people experiencing violence should not be expected to manage those situations on their own.
Since moving to the Grand Forks area, Art has become a vital prevention education advocate for CVIC—and so much more.
“As far as I’m concerned,” he said. “CVIC is the model for ending violence. Full stop.”
Now, Art serves on CVIC’s executive board of directors and contributes financially to the organization in the form of regular monthly donations. It’s a commitment he likens to the phrase, “nothing from nothing leaves nothing.”
“You cannot fight this battle without resources. I’m at a point in my life where I have more resources and want to give of those resources because that’s what it’s going to take to really help CVIC reach that goal of ending violence in two generations. That and education, of course,” he said. “I strongly encourage anybody who has been a bystander like me, or wants to be an advocate, or even wants to implement prevention education on their campus to get a hold of me. There is so much we can do together.”
Hattie has long since passed away, but her role in shaping Art’s understanding of abuse and survivorship has been a lesson for everyone in the power of being a good neighbor, speaking against injustices, and making a difference for the sake of safety, healing and hope.
Learn more about CVIC’s professional training and education programs for businesses, organizations and schools.
Written by Lonna Whiting