Monday night celebrated Oswego States’ Women’s Centers’ annual Take Back the Night, a long awaited event each year.
Take Back the Night is perhaps one of the most charged and emotional nights of the fall semester. From free T-shirts and a candlelight vigil to a chant oriented march and a speak out, students, faculty and families ventured to Hewitt Union to take back the night.
The international organization, first founded in 2001, “seeks to end sexual assault, domestic violence, dating violence, sexual abuse and all other forms of sexual violence,” according to takebackthenight.org. Their goal, and ours at Oswego State, is to take back women’s voices by speaking out. The first event, originally named, “Reclaim the Night” took place in October 1975. Now, 38 years later, we continue to stand up and take back the night.
With posters advertising 500 free T-shirts available, the line outside Hewitt Ballroom was swarming with students. Conversations were a buzz about last year’s ventures for the ever-famous Take Back the Night shirts. Each year a different style, the T-shirts promote women’s rights to own the night without fear. This year’s style was especially clever, with a woman throwing a lasso toward the moon, insinuating her taking of the night. The shirts, though popular, are more than just shirts. They symbolize a certain night of the year where men and women do not have to be afraid to speak out. They symbolize a women’s right to own her experience, deal with it, and let others in. These shirts are only a part of what Take Back the Night at Oswego State has started to symbolize.
Following the distribution of the shirts, the crowd headed outside to partake in a candlelight vigil, where once candles were lit, the crowd had a moment of silence for all those who had suffered at the hands of someone else. This, however, was the only silent part of the night. The march soon ensued.
Marching around the campus, students took a 1.3-mile walk holding posters and spitting out chants against rape, violence, silence and patriarchy. A crowd favorite, “hey hey, ho ho, patriarchy has got to go,” could be heard throughout the group, all in different tones, different experiences behind these words, resonating. Students watched from their residence halls as the crowd marched by, shouting lines, such as “What do we want?” “CONSENT!” “When do we want it?” “NOW!” and “Out of the halls and into the streets, we won’t be raped, we won’t be beat!” Though the crowd was a diverse mix of students, most strangers, ranging from Greek organizations, the cheerleading club, and students amped to speak out, they all had one common goal: to stop the silence.
Following the march, students again gathered in Hewitt Ballroom for refreshments and a speak out. An emotionally charged event, the stage was offered to any and all of those who wanted to speak out against sexual assault, domestic violence and sexual abuse. After a few moments of silence, a brave young woman was the first to take the stage. Following her, several other women took the stage. The crowd applauded each speaker’s courage to tell their story to an audience of strangers.
The stories, of course, were confidential, but they consisted of poems, personal anecdotes, rage, anger and pure disappointment in those around them. These women took the stage and took the back the night with their words, courage, and trust in a room of strangers. These were the women we were taking back the night for. We also took back the night for all those who, throughout the world, do not have the voice to speak out, both men and women.
Make sure to look out for next year’s event, which is bound to have just as much of an impact.
Story by Erin Marulli, photos by Kaitlin Provost