"2-4-6-8 We Won't Stand For Any Rape!" chanted Duke students and members of the Durham community Thursday night as part of Take Back the Night 2004 march the culminating event of Sexual Assault Prevention Week.
The event began at 7:30 p.m. outside of the Marketplace with readings of poetry and chanting to rally the spirits of the roughly 40 people present. The crowd thickened to over 200 people at the Chapel steps for the Speak Out, where the march ended, the Women's Center estimated.
As the crowd--which passionately yelled, "We have the power, we have the right, the streets are ours, take back the night!" and carried signs reading "Duke Students Unite, Take Back the Night" progressed from East Campus to the Chapel steps--it gained momentum, stopped traffic and attracted supporters with noisemakers such as cow bells.
The group of approximately 80 people marched from East campus, through Central campus to West campus and approached the Chapel from behind the West-Edens Link and the Clocktower Quadrangle, bringing men and women to their front doors to watch or open their windows to hear the commotion.
Though local news channels covered the entire march, cameras were shut off for the most poignant part of the night, the Speak Out at the Chapel. As a sign of respect for victims of sexual assault, the now substantial mass of marchers ceased their chanting and proceeded in silence from the main residential quadrangle.
"Interpersonal violence harms all of us," said Jean Leonard, coordinator for Sexual Assault Support Services. "This is our chance to reclaim and redefine our community."
Leonard initiated the Speak Out with some of the student peer educators for Sexual Harassment and Rape Prevention, who have joined with SASS to organize this week's activities.
A representative from the Durham Crisis Response Center said that she hoped the night would give men and women from Duke and Durham a chance to speak out and to end violence, as well as to bridge the gap between Durham and Duke.
After these introductory remarks, a short, uncomfortable time span ensued until the first volunteer from the audience strode up to the microphone to break the silence.
The Speak Out continued as additional survivors or friends of survivors ventured to the microphone to share their feelings and stories to the crowd. Some students described their own personal experiences with sexual assault or violence while others spoke for their friends or family members. Some audience members, like many speakers, broke out in tears as volunteers shared the pain of their memories and their hope for the future.
The Speak Out concluded around 10:30 p.m. when those remaining on the Chapel steps were invited to the Women's Center for milk and cookies.
"It's gone well. We've had key-note speakers and photo exhibits and they've all been well attended," said Xiomara Padamsee, a SASS coordinator, reflecting on the past week. "We've broken [over] eleven hundred pledges that men signed saying they won't commit, condone or stay silent about sexual assault."
As she left the Speak Out, sophomore Barbara Hauptfuhrer said the night was a positive move in promoting awareness and improving safety.
"The feeling tonight was one of united women and men," she said. "This is a feeling that our campus must promote in order to establish a safer place."
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