Vanderbilt recognized the 11th annual Take Back the Night on Tuesday, but according to senior Ashley Thomas, “It was not really Take Back the Night.”
Take Back the Night is a national event that usually takes place in October but was held in mid-November this year. Normally, survivors of sexual violence decorate T-shirts with inspirational messages and then survivors and supporters walk at night to listen to a keynote speaker, said Thomas, who is involved with the Margaret Cuninggim Women’s Center and helped plan last year’s event. Last year, participants walked from campus to Centennial Park, where there was a speech followed by statements from the survivors.
This year, the event consisted of a lecture by Dr. Dorothy Edwards from the University of Kentucky on how to prevent sexual violence.
“I do think that the speaker this year was really powerful about what people can do, both men and women,” Thomas said.
A focus of the event was the Green Dot campaign, a violence-prevention effort that Edwards conceived.
"What is exciting about having (the Green Dot campaign) launch during Take Back the Night is that we really were able to get people's enthusiasm," said Anna Guest-Jelley, associate director of the Women’s Center. "What we want to do is do training to get people involved so the energy is not just a one-time thing."
But Thomas said not many people were at the event to hear Edwards’ message. She estimated there were approximately 150 people in attendance this year, as opposed to last year, when there were around 500 participants, she said.
Guest-Jelley said about 300 people attended and 32 organizations came to show their support.
Sophomore Laura Bowling said seeing how many organizations were supportive of the event was one of her favorite parts of the night.
“It was very motivating,” she said.
Senior Erica Santiago, president of Vanderbilt Feminists, said the night was incomplete without the survivors’ speeches.
“It builds up to an amazing group where we can speak out,” she said. “Students express acts of sexual violence that have happened to them on Vanderbilt’s campus. Those are the stories we never forget, and that was just missing this year.”
Planning for the annual event has been a central component to an ongoing conflict between the Women’s Center and students this semester.
In October, on the day when Take Back the Night was originally scheduled to occur, some students staged a protest that evolved into a conversation among the Women’s Center staff, Vanderbilt administration, campus leaders and students.
Thomas said one of her frustrations with the Women’s Center staff is how they organized Take Back the Night.
“(Last year) the students were really involved,” she said. “This year we had a protest and an impromptu meeting with the new staff, and (they) then told us that they were moving it to November. They told us they wanted student involvement but didn’t really ask us to help. The only thing (students) were given to do was stuff bags.”
Thomas said she also felt the event was poorly advertised, speculating that may be why it was poorly attended in comparison to last year.
“(This year’s event) was disappointing to all of us,” Thomas said.
Santiago said the way the night was run this year has promise, but the organizers should include parts that were popular in previous years.
“I think the new concept of Take Back the Night has the potential to be a change for the better,” Santiago said, “but they should not forget why people liked it so much in the past. There should have been stories about sexual violence here. Having a speaker from Kentucky talking about the Green Dot movement makes it seem like it is still an ‘over there’ problem. We need to discuss the fact that it is a problem on Vanderbilt's campus.”
Sydney Wilmer and Diane BeCraft contributed reporting to this story.
