Everything you missed at Bucknell’s Take Back The Night event
‘To the survivors, the stories that have been heard and unheard, I see you and I hear you’
The ELC Terrace room was filled to capacity as students as staff gathered for Bucknell’s annual Take Back The Night Event. Students were asked to sign a banner in solidarity with survivors as they entered, and took a blue or purple glow stick for use later in the evening.
The event, hosted by SpeakUp Bucknell and the Women’s Resource Center, took place on October 27th, 2016 with the aim to “end sexual assault and dating violence on campus.” While the event usually gathers outside, and includes a silent walk of reflection, the inclement weather caused it to be held indoors.
The event’s speakers included current students, alumni, and staff, who shared personal statements of survivorship or alliance.
Of the multitude of speakers, Maddie Liotta, a junior, discussed the commonality of sexual assault and the importance of recognizing it, saying:
“You may dismiss [sexual assault] as a strange experience and shrug, thinking that’s probably happened to other people as well. What’s truly unfortunate is that it actually does happen to other people. If you aren’t a survivor personally, there’s a high likelihood that friend or family member of yours is a survivor.”
Laura Poulton, a Common Ground Facilitator, read an anonymous student’s powerful statement about sexual assault on the LGBTQ+ community at Bucknell:
“I am tired of the condescending, yet ultimately fearful way with which people who have the vaguest inclination of my past attempt to deal with me. I am tired of having to constantly assuage these fears. I am tired of constantly having to present an incredibly false version of myself every single day to deal with someone else’s sense of comfort.”
Dean Badal, the Dean of Students, spoke to Bucknell’s administration’s alliance with survivors:
“To the survivors, the stories that have been heard and unheard, I see you and I hear you.”
The event ended with everyone present cracking their given glow sticks and pausing for a moment of silent reflection in the dark.
Like many of Bucknell’s events relating to sexual assault and gender violence awareness, Take Back The Night was powerful and moving.
As students exited, hugs were given in abundance and a true sense of Bucknell community was felt.