St. Thomas students marched through campus April 19 in an effort to bring the severity of sexual assault to the forefront of the minds of the campus community.

The Feminist Community, a club known around campus as FemCom, hosted the annual “Take Back the Night” march, an international event that brings awareness to sexual assault and is meant to be a reclamation of space for those who feel unsafe walking at night.

“I’m a victim-survivor of sexual assault, and nighttime is one of the scariest times because you’re alone, and this is all about not being alone,” said sophomore Danielle Wong, a co-facilitator of FemCom.

Eighteen students joined Wong and her co-facilitators, Sofía Levya, Kaitlyn Spratt and Tessa Schmitz, in the march and in making posters, which featured expressions like “We have the right to be safe at night” and “I’m too old to be afraid of the dark.”

St. Thomas sophomore Winonah Owen-Reese was among these 18 students who participated. She attended the event last year.

Owen-Reese also finds the event to be important in bringing the reality of sexual assault within the campus community to the front for others to see.

“Just being exposed to it will help people think about it,” she said. “So, if men or even women have blind spots to this issue, they can be like, ‘Oh yeah this happens at our school too.’”

The university sends out an email every time an incident involving sexual assault impacts a member of the St. Thomas community, and Wong sees it as a positive contributor to the “Take Back the Night” cause.

“Even though people might not be comfortable with (these emails) now, I think you have to make people uncomfortable. That’s the only way change can occur,” Wong said.

The march consisted of the students walking past Ireland Hall on north campus to Cretin Hall on south campus.

Students were banging sticks against buckets while shouting chants such as “Claim our bodies. Claim our rights. Take a stand. Take back the night,” and “The people united will never be divided.”

Following the march, participators met in the Luann Dunham Women’s Center for a reflection and opportunity for victims to share their stories.

According to Wong, many people feel comfortable enough to share their stories to the group.

“It’s really special that we can provide a space for that happen,” Wong said.

Owen-Reese finds the march and the reflection to be a source of validation and support for the victims of sexual assault.

“Sharing in each other’s pain, having that empathy, but also sharing in each other’s victories, and trying to support each other,” Owen-Reese said. “This is the one night a year that everyone in the room with me gets me.”

At the end of the event, Public Safety showed up at the Luann Dunham Women’s Center asking why the facilitators of the event did not inform Public Safety of the march.

Neglecting to inform Public Safety about such events puts all the participators at risk, according to the Public Safety officers.

The facilitators said they had unintentionally forgotten to inform Public Safety about the march.

FemCom has held this event for more than five years on campus and plans to continue holding the event for years to come.

“Even though people have busy lives, it’s important that we stand up for what we believe in, and actively take a stand because nothing is going to change if we don’t let our voices be heard,” Wong said.

Althea Larson can be reached at lars2360@stthomas.edu.
Mark Ahern can be reached at mark.ahern@stthomas.edu.