Rachel Johnson ran ahead of the crowd of students who were marching beside E.S. Bird Library, casting long shadows up and down the sidewalk.

Johnson — the chair of the 2017 Take Back the Night committee — was overcome with emotion and out of breath as she turned into the wind that had been sharp and bitter throughout the night, her voice hitching.

“This means freedom, it means an end to rape culture, it means everyone is coming together as a collective,” she said. “This is beautiful.”

Hundreds of Syracuse University students and local residents gathered Wednesday evening for SU’s annual Take Back the Night rally, an event aimed at eliminating sexual assault; abuse and violence; and rape culture. After holding a rally at Hendricks Chapel, students marched across campus, down Marshall Street and up Walnut Street, chanting a variety of slogans opposing sexual violence.

Take Back the Night events have spread across the globe since the mid-1970s, when attendees of the International Tribunal on Crimes Against Women in Belgium held a candlelight march, taking to the streets of Brussels to condemn violence against women.

SU has hosted a Take Back the Night event off and on for the last 15 years, said Katelyn Cowen, director of SU’s Office of Health Promotion. This year’s rally included speeches from Johnson and Desiree Williams, the coordinator for the Vera House Alternatives Program, and skits from members of the university’s Peer Educators Encouraging Healthy Relationships and Sexuality Group program.

Colin Davy | Asst. Photo Editor

The event began quietly, as volunteers hung banners with slogans such as “These Hands Are Against Violence” from Hendricks’ balconies around 5 p.m. Lonely footsteps echoed around the chapel, contrasting the fact that soon, hundreds of people would fill the building, chanting “Women’s rights are human rights.”

But students began to flood in around 7 p.m. and soon began speaking out against sexual assault. Johnson, in her speech, pleaded with attendees to not be bystanders to sexual violence and rape.

“I was sexually assaulted when I was a freshman in high school, and then again as a freshman in college, already after I had become a peer educator,” she said. “ … I don’t disclose this for pity, or for support. I don’t need support or resources. I need it not to happen to the people that I know.”

One in five women will be sexually assaulted while at college, and more than 90 percent of sexual assault victims at colleges do not report the assault, according to the National Sexual Violence Resource Center.

Johnson said people should not wait for the Take Back the Night event to speak out about sexual violence and people should not wait for someone to be sexually assaulted before offering help. Johnson added that people shouldn’t wait for “an OCR investigation” to challenge policies, referring to the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights’ investigation into a Title IX complaint at SU.

“A large portion of you are bystanders. … Rape culture only exists because we allow it to persist,” she said.

Williams said people need to talk to and educate one another about what sexual assault constitutes. She added that people must bring about the change they want to see in the world regarding this issue.

After the speeches from Johnson and Williams, students and community members left Hendricks, beginning the march toward Marshall Street.

Aaliyah Gatlin, a senior studying social work, stood near Tolley Humanities Building with a sign reading “Women’s Rights are Human Rights,” her silhouette against the headlines of a passing car. Take Back the Night was a celebration of Syracuse’s stand to not tolerate violence against any race, creed or gender, she said.

Milan Chaney, a graduate student studying audio arts, became separated from the main group of marchers, and began chanting “Syracuse unite, take back the night” with a group of friends at the intersection of South Crouse Avenue and Waverly Avenue.

“It feels amazing, getting out all of the emotion and pain,” she said, walking to catch up with main group of marchers. “It feels so empowering.”

Later, walking down the promenade in the cold, Johnson and Chaney marched, like countless women before them had in Take Back the Night marches spanning more than 40 years.

Johnson, with dozens fanning out behind her and the night expanding out around her, shouted for an end to abuse, violence and rape beneath a hazy crescent moon.

“I can’t hear you,” she shouted at the crowd, urging them to chant louder. “ … I can’t hear you.”

Published on March 29, 2017 at 11:41 pm

Contact Sam: sfogozal@syr.edu | @SamOgozalek