We all BeLong: One Laker | One Love Day 2023

For the seventh time, the Boys’ Latin community came together to mark One Laker | One Love Day, a special day dedicated to promoting healthy relationships. The theme of this year was “We All BeLong,” and programming was dedicated to discussions around the idea of community and belonging at BL.

The One Laker | One Love Day grew out of a student-led initiative and partnership with the One Love Foundation, which was created by Sharon Love, mother of Yeardley Love, the Baltimore native and University of Virginia student who tragically lost her life at the hands of her former boyfriend in 2010. 

The One Love Foundation is a national non-profit organization whose goal is to raise awareness and end relationship abuse. Boys’ Latin was not only the first school in the nation to establish a One Love Student Club but the first school to be named a One Love Certified HERO School and today, Boys’ Latin is a flagship School for the One Love Foundation.  

BL’s Upper School One Love Club runs the annual One Laker | One Love Day, which is designed to empower students to promote healthy relationships and see signs of unhealthy ones. As has become custom, students and faculty wear t-shirts emblazoned with the slogan, along with the checkered blue heart that is One Love’s logo.

Headmaster Chris Post started proceedings in the Iglehart Auditorium with a reminder of the day’s importance. “There’s no greater expression of our values than being someone who stands up for what is right, good, and just,” he said.

Director of Counseling and One Love faculty sponsor Megan Kenney echoed Mr. Post’s sentiments: “It is courageous for us as a community to have this day.”

The keynote speaker was Hillary Henninghausen, who once worked with Ms. Kenney at Notre Dame Prep. Ms. Henninghausen told the harrowing story of her sister Jessica Jacobson, who was killed by an abusive ex-husband in 2007. In her talk, she focused on the warning signs that she missed in her sister’s relationship, and she educated the audience on how to spot such signs in others.

Groups of students took turns signing a “We all BeLong” poster, as One Love senior leaders Cole Gibson ‘23 and Thomas Moxley ‘23 spoke about their experiences with finding a niche at BL.

Following the poster signing, students and faculty adjourned to the Middle School athletic field, where they arranged themselves in the formation of the One Love logo while a drone took pictures from high above. A combined musical ensemble, comprised of students and faculty from across divisions, serenaded the group with a musical rendition of Bill Withers’ “Lean on Me.” 

Upper school then gathered in their advisories, and lower schoolers joined their middle school peers to engage in age-appropriate activities and discussions around community and this year's theme, “We All BeLong.”

Click on the following link to learn more about character education at Boys' Latin. 

CHARACTER EDUCATION AT BOYS' LATIN