Rachel Griego, sister of slain UW employee Rebecca Griego, and the Lambda Theta Alpha sorority both received awards last night for their efforts to raise awareness of domestic violence in King County.

The recognitions were given out at the Take Action Against Domestic Violence awards event, which was sponsored by the King County Coalition Against Domestic Violence (KCCADV), a local advocacy organization.

“The organization has been around since the late ’70s or early ’80s,” said Merril Cousin, the executive director of the KCCADV. “As you can see, we’ve been around for a while.”

This year, the KCCADV recognized two entities close to the UW.

Rachel Griego’s sister, Rebecca, was tragically shot and killed last year by a man who had been close to her. Many people do not know that Griego was very involved in domestic violence awareness work before her sister’s tragic passing.

“I worked (and still do) in domestic violence for battery treatment programs, so I was already involved with that kind of work,” Griego said. “I think because of that, it allowed me to do all the work I’ve done in the past year, but more importantly I did it without question because it was in honor of my sister.”

Griego was keen to reach out to UW students and faculty. Her message is one of awareness and prevention, and she conveys it with determination. She mentioned a number of warning signs that might indicate the presence of domestic violence, such as withdrawal from friends and family, lack of accountability in a relationship and controlling behavior.

“You cannot be too aware of domestic violence, in that it isn’t just somebody else’s story,” Griego said. “It’s someone you know: it’s your friend, it’s your sister, it’s a coworker. It’s happening to someone you know, probably someone closer to you than you think.”

Lambda Theta Alpha’s efforts to raise awareness on the UW campus regarding domestic violence were praised by the KCCADV committee as beyond exemplary.

“I guess I would say it’s very overwhelming in a good way, because it’s something we’ve worked very hard for in the past two years,” said Celia Biberos, a Lambda Theta Alpha member who was present for the awards ceremony. “Domestic violence is something that we all personally feel strongly about, especially violence against women.”

Biberos said the sorority was especially honored to receive the recognition: “… this is really such an honor because this award covers not just the University but the whole of King County. It’s a really big thing for us.”

Lambda Theta Alpha conducts a number of domestic violence awareness events on the UW campus throughout the year.

“We’ll actually be doing our third annual Big Man On Campus event in the Spring, and then we will also continue doing other things,” Biberos said. “In the past, we did cell phone donation drives to get phones to be used for calling 911 for domestic violence victims. We’re hoping to just keep on raising awareness about domestic violence on campus.”

Reach reporter Anthony Michael Erickson at news@dailyuw.com.