Miss Junior, Jaleah Jackson, hosted a self-defense training session in the John Garrick Hardy Center Ballroom, providing students with the opportunity to learn practical techniques for personal safety. The event held on Nov. 7 stared at 6 p.m. and featured Eddie Dunning, a practitioner of Yoshukai karate, who instructed participants in basic self-defense tactics for common attack scenarios.

Jackson expressed a strong sense of urgency and purpose behind organizing the self-defense event.

“I made this event so men and women on this campus know how to protect themselves should anything occur,” Jackson said. “You never know what could happen day or night, so it is always good to have some little skills and have some things in your back pocket. I hope they’ll gain some confidence. It is good to know how to defend yourself, to be able to put up a fight if something ever happens.”

Jackson emphasized the importance of the training, especially in the current political climate.

“I feel like women are so vulnerable now, especially with the recent election,” she explained. “Women have a real reason to want to know how to defend themselves. They need to know how to protect themselves. I feel this event is really important for them to learn how to fight and just build confidence so they feel prepared if anything ever happens.”

Looking ahead, Jackson expressed her desire to expand the initiative. “I would love to do something like this again,” she said. “I want it to include more people, men and women, children, everyone. Everybody deserves to have the skills to protect themselves.”

Dunning led the self-defense session, demonstrating fundamental techniques aimed at real-world scenarios.

“Karate requires kicking, punching, throws, a little bit of ground fighting, and of course, weaponry,” Dunning said. “We showed them some simple stuff because most people attacking you are either going to attack from the front or try to put their hand around your neck to choke you out. We worked on techniques for how to get out of those chokes and, of course, how to strike back.”

Dunning emphasized the importance of practicing beyond the session.

“There are a thousand ways of doing it, but tonight we just worked on some basics,” he noted. “If someone wants to continue building their self-defense skills, I would suggest joining a class. Our dojo is at 1059 Maxwell Boulevard, and we train on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 6 p.m. We work for about an hour, an hour and a half. Just come show up and get some work in.”

Jakaylan Ivey, a senior biology major, attended the session out of interest in both self-defense and her connection with Miss Junior. “I know Jaleah, and I like karate, so it sounded like fun,” Ivey said. “I learned new self-defense techniques, so now I can defend myself if something happens. Young women need to know how to defend themselves, so this class was very key, like it was pivotal in the movement for women to be able to defend themselves.”

Faith Blackwell, who serves as Miss Senior for the 2024-2025 academic year, was enthusiastic about supporting Miss Junior’s initiative.

“Actually, I was very excited. I felt like it was very informative and I feel like it was a good turnout,” Blackwell said. “A lot of students came and experienced something they never experienced before. I came to support Miss Junior because she is standing on her platform of helping scholars, being spectacular in her initiative. And I also came because she is my line sister from Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. I think it is important for young women to learn how to protect themselves, especially now, politically, when women are very vulnerable.”

Myles Wilson, a sophomore majoring in radio and television communication from Atlanta, Georgia, shared his perspective on the event, as well as his personal reasons for attending.

“I’m an escort,” Wilson said. “Miss Junior is my queen, you know. It was a great event. 30, 40 girls in here. I took karate when I was younger, so I saw a lot of familiar techniques, like the little up block over your head and the sternum punch. It was fun; it brought back old memories.”

Wilson emphasized the importance of self-defense skills, especially for women. “It’s important because back in the day, my folks talked about how fighting was important. I never wanted to use guns or anything like that, and I have sisters. I was raised by women, so I know it is very important for women to know how to protect themselves, whether they have access to a gun or not. This was a very informative event.”