On March 2, 2012, around 160 people came together for the “No Equal! No More!” silent protest in front of I.G. Greer Auditorium outside of a general faculty meeting to show their concerns about the university administration’s handling and responses to recent sexual assault reports.
Meet Annie Hegar, one of the student organizers behind the silent protest and an instant inspiration. Read along to find out what inspired the movement, her experience with the protest, the importance of spreading awareness about our current rape culture, and what college campuses can do to educate about the realities of rape.
“[Here] is a picture of me with my friend Meagan Creed (right). She is one of the survivors of these assaults, and is one of the strongest women I have had the pleasure of meeting, and I’m proud to call her my best friend.”
Name: Annie Hegar
Hometown:Jefferson, NC
Major:Criminal Justice/Sociology Minor
Class:Senior
Q:First off, what inspired you to organize a silent protest? What was the message of the campaign?
A: The silent protest was actually a group effort. Eight of us (6 friends, 2 victims) heard of the faculty meeting from a staff member at ASU…from there, someone had the idea to protest, and collectively, our movement grew from there.
Q: How does a silent protest create a statement?
A: By being completely silent, we demonstrated our ability to professionally and respectfully bring attention to the issues we have with the sexual assault policies at ASU. It was also to demonstrate that by the ASU administration remaining silent on pertinent issues (i.e., lack of notification to the victims when perpetrators return to campus), we are all being put in harm’s way. Rosemary Johnson, (one of our organizers), came up with the slogan “Silence is Violence,” which demonstrates this perfectly.
Q: What did you hope to accomplish by organizing this protest?
A: We hoped to gain acknowledgement by the administration that there are issues that are not being dealt with properly. There were a list of 5 things we hoped to accomplish (these can be found on our demonstration page on Facebook), and as of right now, we are working diligently with administration to see that most (if not all) of these come to fruition.
Q: How many people showed up at the protest? Did it reach your goal?
A: We were hoping for around 100-150 people, and we had 158 sign in (which we know is less than what we actually had…it was difficult to get signatures from everyone). We considered this a HUGE success! We were very happy with it.
Q: What do you think all college campuses can take away from being educated on sexual assault and rape?
A: We live in a rape culture, so changing the culture is (obviously) unrealistic; however, we can begin to educate college campuses on the realities of rape and what it means to live in a culture where we demonize the victims. Everyone deserves justice…and every campus should implement policies that assist victims of sexual assault as opposed to dissuading them from coming forward.
Q: Was this your first protest you’ve organized? If not, what else have you organized?
A: It was! It was nerve-racking, and it was definitely difficult to organize that amount of people; however, it’s extremely rewarding to have people that I haven’t talked to in over a year email me to tell me that they support what we’re doing. It feels amazing to bring these issues to the forefront of people’s minds–the positive support feels incredible!
Q: What should Appalachian, and other college campuses, do about sexual assault and rape?
A: First and foremost, we want to educate people on the realities of rape, and what constitutes a “rape culture”, where we blame the victims for what they are wearing, who they were with, etc. We also would like more extensive rape/sexual assault training for the office of student conduct and the conduct boards who decide the outcomes of these cases. For example, it is important that the administration is aware that just because a woman doesn’t say “no”, it does not mean she consents to having sex. The administration has been very supportive of this thus far.
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Q: Did the protest reach the goals you and the other organizers had set forth?
A: It did! We accomplished our goal: to raise awareness. These victims have been living in fear, and sometimes, it takes a large amount of people to really demonstrate that there is an issue.
Q: What was your experience like during the protest?
A: It was really powerful and emotional. As I said before, I’ve never participated, let alone organized, an event like this, and I was not really sure what to expect! To see such an incredible force of people all gathered peacefully and respectfully was amazing…I was very proud of our student body!
Q: Did you get positive feedback from the university? The students?
A: We have received a good amount of positive feedback from the administration as far as how we move ahead from here. As of right now, nothing is set in stone and it is all still in the works; however, SGA is working diligently (they’ve been incredible!!) with the administration to push our goals regarding sexual assault policies. We also receive feedback almost on a daily basis in our Facebook group about the positive impact we’ve made from both students and faculty members.
Q: Anything else you would like to add?
A: I’d love to say thank you for assisting us in our campaign to better Appalachian State University. It took a great amount of people for this to be successful, and we’re very proud of the result. It is a slow process, but hopefully we will be seeing some positive changes, soon!
Thank you Annie for taking time for us to interview you. You are a definite inspiration. Keep doing what you’re doing!