Take Back The Night
By: Selim Kim, Max Mantel, Chengyue Zhang, Emilia Kniestedt
On a foggy evening, bustles of students crowd into Grainger Auditorium. All around the open space lie booths hosting activities that range from creating T-shirts, writing about hopes on flags, to a HAVEN information booth. This scene is familiar to many Exonians, who have seen the Take Back the Night event every year.
Like previous Take Back the Night events, this year’s event foresaw the continuation of incorporating activities that aimed to bring awareness to sexual assault culture on campus. This included themed booths run by clubs such as Exeter Student Service Organization (ESSO), WPEA, and Cosplay Society of Exeter. Near the end of the event, a compiled video highlighting student performances was screened to attendees. Outside the auditorium, Clyde’s Cupcakes was present, serving a sweet treat.
The planning process for the event began before the start of spring break, with each individual event included in Take Back The Night having a corresponding committee. These committees were chosen by senior Lyric Zimmermann and Director of Student Wellbeing Christina Palmer.
Instructor in English Courtney Marshall, one of the key organizers of Take Back the Night, recounted that the overall process ran smoothly: “I think we just had to remind people when they came back from spring break, but other than that there weren't really any struggles encountered. People were very flexible, and I’m really impressed with them,” Marshall said.
Senior and organizer Ana Casey also noted the growth in the event this year: “Last year we had three clubs and teams that were a part of it, but this year we have fifteen, which is a huge change. So, that's really exciting to see how it's expanding,” Casey said.
Though the event was originally planned to take place outdoors on the McConnell Quad, weather circumstances moved the event indoors. “It was really nice to have it on the quad outside Elm last year. More people were able to come last year simply because of the location. Because it was more in the area of student life, you couldn't avoid it,” Casey said.
Despite the unexpected change, the planned activities and events were hosted and conducted as usual.
Lower and organizer Alexander Luna explained the main directive behind the planned events of this year’s Take Back the Night: “The organization team tried to bring in clubs that aren't specifically based around sexual assault awareness. “We [tried] to make sure people are getting involved, getting educated, learning, and taking steps forward,” Luna said. “We wanted to have interactive activities that draw people in.”
Increasing interaction with the Take Back the Night event was a significant goal for the planning team. “A lot of the other stuff we do is very academic or policy focused, which is obviously important and needs to happen. With issues such as sexual assault that have such emotions and feelings attached to them, it is important to also to be able to have spaces to talk about it and be in solidarity with each other. That's what Take Back the Night offers to students,” Casey said.
Marshall also sees the event as an opportunity to demonstrate solidarity. “The big thing about Take Back the Night has always been to foster a sense of community, and to let survivors know that they're not alone. So when you see people coming out to an event like this, it makes a big statement to people who have survived different forms of sexual violence,” Marshall said. “It lets them know that these people are safe. These people care for them. It's a big community builder. It's also another chance for us to think about what type of campus we are.”
Such efforts seem to have proved successful as many students shared their positive reactions to the events. Prep Pranavi Vedula believed the event was “very informative and fun to attend.” To Vedula, booths that merged notable information with degrees of interactivity left the biggest impression. “One of the most memorable booths for me was the red flags vs green flags booth. People put up paper flags describing what they thought were ‘red’ and ‘green’ flags in a relationship,” Vedula recalled.”It was very creative and enjoyable.”
Lower David Goodall shared similar sentiments. “I think it's great. I always think the Take Back the Nights is really well done and really thoughtful. I really appreciate all the work that was put into it,” Goodall said. “I think one of the greatest things about Take Back the Night is the sense of community it brings and how everyone's really able to come together. You’re communicating the message that you are valid, you are seen, and you are heard.”
Aside from the interactive booths, another major aspect of this year’s Take Back the Night was the incorporation of student performances, which ranged from musical performances to monologues. “The monologues are really good. They come from all different perspectives and I think it just shows what a big topic sexual assault is, so it also gets people talking about the topic too,” Marshall said. “I also think it is a moment of self-reflection, and a chance to learn more…These monologues make you see the scope of the problem, but also localizes it: you have an individual story, but then you get these big statistics.”
Upper Aletheia Zou appreciated the care and attention to bringing multiple perspectives to light. “[The event] was a chance for people to express their feelings unfiltered, whether that's anger or sadness or concern,” Zou said. “I appreciate how some bits of the event were anonymous. It is a chance for people to know that they're safe sharing those ideas without getting it tracked back to them.”
Many attendees of the event expressed their appreciation for the video’s powerful message.“It's nice to see everyone joining together for this cause. It felt like a safe environment and felt very genuine. I enjoyed the video that was put together. Seeing so many students that I know being a part of that was really inspiring,” lower Vera Aimunmondion reflected.
Lower Ayaan Akhtar agreed. “I thought [video presentation] raised awareness in a way that would leave a strong impact on people, using student voices and student musicians to teach about sexual assault. It was enlightening seeing my peer’s voices and listening to people talk about a difficult topic, making conversations more approachable amongst other Exonians,” Akhtar said.
Though many students recognized the significance of Take Back The Night, some students expressed concern about the actual effectiveness of the event. “I do think the event is very important, but every time one of these events happens, I can't help but wonder if the people who need to hear this even come,” Zou said.
Another student, who wished to remain anonymous, shared, “I did not want to go because as a survivor, simply seeing the event email upset me. What could we possibly do to make somebody feel safe and recognized in this community when students ask them to have safe conversations on previous sexual assault cases with teachers, but we still struggle to discuss what is happening on our own campus?”
Lower Kenza Madhi agreed: “The administration and teachers are trying their best in raising awareness, but at the same time, there is no ‘perfect’ thing that they can do. We can complain about it in some ways, but we cannot blame them for doing all they know to do. There is a challenge in striking a balance between those two things.”
Indeed, this year’s Take Back The Night has drawn varying reactions from attendees. Yet, no matter the reaction, many of the organizers agree that the end of the event does not mean the end of the effort to raise awareness about sexual assault.
Marshall said, “I hope that students can tap into their emotions and feel that sense of empathy for others”. But, I also hope that they will think about what they can do afterward. Like, ‘Now that I've seen this, how can my behaviors change or how can I just be more supportive? How can I learn more about the resources either on campus or off campus for survivors?’”
Marshall continued by noting her faith and admiration for Exeter’s hospitable community. “I think there's something really powerful when we share those really painful parts of ourselves with others. I’ve seen Exonians just care for one another so much, so I just hope attendees learn how to better support other students.”
Zimmermann agreed. “There’s constant ways in which we can be on this campus and act as… good sexual citizens, but it’s incredibly difficult to do when you’re surrounded by other students who aren’t always doing that,” Zimmermann said. “The performance is a really great way to show that there is solidarity in students here with a profound willingness to fight for one another and to exist for one another and in support of one another.”
“The biggest takeaway, at least, personally for me, is this is us. We are here, and we are staying, and this is going to continue,” Zimmermann concluded.
