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In the midst of rain, snow and wind on the steps of Hendricks Chapel, a group of Syracuse University students and staff gathered to project their voices into the night. “What do we want?”

“Safe streets!” a cry responded. “We have the power, we have the right,” another call sounded.

SU hosted its yearly Take Back the Night rally at Hendricks Chapel on Wednesday night, which aims to provide a safe space for student survivors of sexual and relationship violence to speak out and find support, organizers said.

The mission of international non-profit organization Take Back the Night is to prevent sexual and relationship violence in all forms. Before the rally, a campus-wide virtual Take Back the Night pledge committed signers to never perpetuate violence and safely intervene in potentially dangerous situations to create a safe campus environment at SU.

The slogan of this year’s rally, “Not just for tonight, for a lifetime,” urges participants to continue their efforts standing up to sexual and relationship violence, said Daniela Puente, a graduate student at SU who helped organize the event.

“It needs to be every night after this that we continue to work towards a better community,” Puente said.

SU Chancellor Kent Syverud attended the event, along with Student Association President David Bruen, SA Speaker of the Assembly Will Treloar and SA Vice President of Student Affairs Yasmin Nayrouz. The rally opened with remarks from Dean of Hendricks Chapel Brian Konkol, Pamela Peter, assistant dean of fraternity and sorority affairs, and Sheila Johnson-Willis, SU’s associate vice president, chief equal opportunity officer and Title IX officer.

Two students on the event planning committee also delivered remarks on the importance of the rally and efforts to mitigate violence on campus. Alaina Brophy, a student at SU’s College of Law and an organizer, emphasized the role SU should play on a larger scale.

“Syracuse University prides itself on their advanced academic fields, empowering students to explore and expand the fields they pursue,” Brophy said. “We are now presented with the opportunity to be a leader among college campuses in the fight against interpersonal violence.”

Students gathered and chanted at Hendricks Chapel for Take Back The Night 2023, which is dedicated to showing support for survivors and victims of sexual and relationship violence.
Video by @stephaniewri

A photo posted by dailyorange

The remarks preceded a time of protest with call-and-response slogans and signs on the Hendricks steps. The evening also platformed a closed speak-out segment for survivors to share their experiences with others.

Puente, who works in diversity, equity and inclusion for the Barnes Center at The Arch, said one of Take Back the Night’s main goals is to educate college students on how they can be active bystanders in potentially dangerous situations, both in campus settings and beyond.

Being an active bystander, Puente said, means remaining alert and prepared to step into situations or environments where another person may be in danger.

“There might be a situation that you might have to intervene, making sure that you can safely intervene and that you’re willing to stand up even if it might make people uncomfortable, even if it might hurt the relationship with friends, being there for your community and for the people that need you,” Puente said.

Puente said the rallying call to keep the campus community safe centers on support and solidarity for students who have dealt with interpersonal violence. The rally’s intent was to encourage people to stand with survivors, she said, and to demonstrate that people are committed to making the campus community safer.

The rally included a time for students to protest outside on the steps of Hendricks Chapel. Lead by student and staff volunteers, participants held signs and shouted calls and responses into the night.

Meghan Hendricks | Photo Editor

Leslie Skeffington, a member of the Barnes Center’s health promotion team who was also involved in the planning committee, said the rally also aims to show survivors there are resources to help them and people who will listen to and support them.

Skeffington said the group of people behind the rally identify interpersonal violence as an epidemic on college campuses across the country and world. She said the rally worked to provide a cathartic space where survivors had the ability to share, and she echoed Puente’s emphasis on the importance of being an active bystander. Skeffington said bystander intervention goes beyond initial confrontation, and means expanding support after an incident.

“Simply saying, ‘I believe you. Your experience was valid. How can I support you?’ actually goes a really huge way and is still a part of bystander intervention of calling out that culture and making sure that person knows that you’re here for them,” Skeffington said.

Last year’s keynote speaker was Randi Bregman, the former co-director of Vera House, a nonprofit organization in Syracuse offering support to victims of abuse. Bregman resigned in August after she was found to have knowingly hired a registered level 2 sex offender as a Vera House employee. Skeffington said Vera House has been involved with Take Back the Night in the past, but working relationships between SU and the organization are now “paused.”

The keynote speaker for this year was Rachel Johnson, an SU alumna and adjunct professor who owns Half Hood Half Holistic, a holistic wellness business. Johnson, who also works as a therapist and doula, also spoke on being an active bystander.

In her speech, Johnson emphasized that being an active bystander can create discomfort. Johnson recalled the work she participated in as an undergraduate student at SU as part of the theater group E5M. The group’s name stands for “every five minutes” and is derived from a 1978 poem, though the statistic is outdated — according to the Washington Coalition of Sexual Assault Programs, a person is raped every two minutes, as of 2007. Members in E5M acted out scenarios to encourage healthy relationship dynamics, which helped Johnson begin work in advocacy.

“This work is much more than supporting survivors and shaming perpetrators,” Johnson said. “The paradigm is way too black and white. I like to shine light on those who live comfortably in the gray.”

Johnson emphasized to the audience that survivors have the power to set boundaries and create healthy relationships. She welcomed the growth and strength that comes with feelings of discomfort.

“Bring along your feeling of anger and hurt and shame and worthlessness. Harvest that energy into screams, into songs, into taps, into tears, into marches, into chants, into shouts,” Johnson said. “You have the power to grow. You have the power to heal. You have the power to take back the night.”

Published on March 30, 2023 at 1:09 am

Contact Stephanie: spwright@syr.edu