An hour before the event began the EMU amphitheater was busy with people waiting for Take Back the Night to begin.
TBTN is an international event aimed at ending all forms of sexual violence. In Eugene, the event is comprised of a rally, speakers, poetry and a march. The march leads to a “speak out,” a “speak out” is a quieter event where survivors of sexual violence can share their experiences.
This was Sophie Albanis’ first year attending TBTN. As an employee of the ASUO Women’s Center and the editor in chief of the Siren, Albanis was required to attend the event, but she would be there even if it wasn’t a part of her job.
“I think Take Back The Night is really important because it’s really powerful for a group of survivors, and especially women, to reclaim the space that has been taken away from us,” Albanis said. “Or at least made very unsafe for us.”
Lily Huston, freshman linguistics major, also attended the event for the first time.
“I have lots of friends that are sexual assault survivors,” Huston said. “It’s really important for me to support my friends that have been assaulted and advocate for better spaces.”
Interim president Scott Coltrane, his wife Wendy Wheeler-Coltrane and a small white dog sat on the steps of the amphitheater throughout the various speakers.
Speakers came from the Women’s Center, Sexual Wellness Advocacy Team, Sexual Assault Support Services, fraternity and sorority life and more.
Zach Lusby, a member of the Delta Tau Delta house and the FSL task force to address sexual violence, addressed the many Greek letters in the crowd. Lusby talked about his own experience as a survivor of sexual violence and the support he felt from his fraternity brothers, but also said that sexual assault is still an issue in the FSL community.
This comes after a highly contested ASUO resolution to halt the expansion of new Greek chapters on campus due to the increased rate of sexual violence within FSL.
“Take tonight and make it every night,” Lusby said.
Garrett Wright and Genevieve Gallagher are two members of the FSL community in attendance.
“This is a huge subject in Greek life,” Wright said. “And I want to come out and support sexual assault (prevention) because I don’t want to see it on our campus.”
Wright said that his fraternity, Kappa Sigma was required to attend. Gallagher said that her sorority, Chi Omega, had been talking about the importance of sexual violence issues for the last few weeks.
Several speakers publically identified as survivors of sexual assault. One, who introduced herself as Miranda, said that this was the first Take Back the Night she had attended since 1998. That event wasn’t nearly as well attended as Thursday night’s rally. She said that back in 1998, some people threw bottles at the participants, which certainly wasn’t the case this year. After the rally the crowd picked up signs and megaphones, singing together chants like:
“However we dress, wherever we go, yes means yes and no means no.”