Saturday Night calls for submissions

Two years ago this month, a woman was sexually assaulted by a stranger in a place where no one should ever have to be afraid—a bathroom in Wannamaker Dormitory. In many ways the aftermath followed the typical pattern: a few weeks of heightened concern, statements from administrators, some Band-Aid solutions, and then a return to relative complacency. But in at least one important way, the events that followed broke the mold.

In an effort to extend the dialogue about sexual assault past the weeks of heightened concern, the survivor wrote a piece in The Chronicle asking for your stories and opinions. We, the editors of Saturday Night: Untold Stories of Sexual Assault at Duke, then compiled those narratives and commentaries into a publication that we distributed to the Duke community.

In the two years that have passed since the assault in Wannamaker, groups of students and administrators have worked assiduously to increase awareness about sexual assault and Duke’s policies. Despite the efforts of this ever-growing group, the number of sexual assaults on Duke’s campus and in society at large is still unacceptable. If you’re reading this on the bus or the quad, at Alpine or the Beanery, in Perkins or the Bryan Center, look around. Think about the fact that one in four women and one in 10 men will be sexually assaulted in their lifetimes, and chances are that one of the faces you see is that of a person who has been or will be sexually assaulted.

For that reason, we write again. We ask those of you who have been affected by this form of violence to send us your stories and opinions. Regardless of your gender, race, sexuality, age or class, we all have stakes in this issue and, therefore, valuable contributions to the discourse. We want and welcome submissions from survivors, friends of survivors, anyone with opinions or ideas about solutions, and also from those who have perspectives differing from the existing dialogue.

And, if you’re a survivor, we re-offer the definition given in the column two years ago: Sexual assault is any sex act (oral, vaginal or anal) committed or attempted without consent or committed when consent cannot be freely given. This means that if you were sober or drunk, were assaulted by a stranger or an acquaintance, initially welcomed sexual advances or didn’t, reported the assault or avoided telling a soul, there is a place for you in the second edition of Saturday Night.

The bottom line is that we owe it to ourselves—as members of this community—to individually and collectively do what we can on a daily basis to stop sexual assault. This is a community-wide problem, and it demands community-wide solutions. Sadly, the majority of perpetrators of sexual assault at Duke are our fellow students—not people from outside of Duke’s walls.

The dialogue that the first edition of Saturday Night started is vital. But it is not the end. We hope that the new perspectives in the second edition will not only continue this dialogue but will also start moving people from words to actions. We have to hold each other accountable in order to make Duke a community where sexual assault is unacceptable.

If you would like to share your stories and opinions, please send them to mel4@duke.edu. Indicate in your e-mail if you’re willing for your contribution to appear in the next edition of Saturday Night. All submissions that appear in the actual publication will be anonymous.