Almost one hundred students braved the cold and gathered on the library roof Monday evening to "take back the night," at the annual effort to promote awareness of issues regarding violence towards women. The visibility rally on the library roof and the march on the quad was sponsored by the Tufts Feminist Alliance (TFA).
"The history of 'Take Back the Night' is about women being able to take to the streets without being afraid, and that's an important message," event organizer Liz Monnin said. "We are a community here at Tufts, we need to be a community so that people can speak up and speak out, and we can take action."
An open mic segment gave the crowd opportunities to express views about violence against women and how safe they feel at Tufts. The program, which also featured a performance by Essence, one of Tufts' all-female a cappella groups, concluded with the march across campus, complete with noisemakers and signs.
With Monday afternoon's anti-hate crime rally still fresh on students' minds, this year's Take Back the Night focused on the general problem of hate crimes at Tufts in addition to those specifically committed against women.
"I think that given the circumstances at Tufts right now it is important that we look at violence against women in the context of other forms of hate crimes and intolerance and realize that none of it is acceptable," Monnin said. "If one person on this campus is afraid or inhibited because of their identity, whatever it may be, then we are all in jeopardy."
Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgendered (LGBT) Center Director Judith Brown addressed the energetic crowd, discussing the previous rally and how it is an example of the actions being made to improve tolerance on the Tufts campus.
"Rather than feeling beaten down, we have to look around us - the rally this afternoon was breathtaking. I think we really reached an ideal today, [with] dozens of students groups coming together and finally addressing these issues," she said.
Women's Center Director Peggy Barrett also spoke at the demonstration, mentioning that recently she has seen great displays of courage in efforts to stand up to hate crimes committed against all sorts of minority groups, including women.
"Sometimes the hardest times to act, and the times when it takes the most personal courage, is when we need to confront our own friends and our own peer group about their behavior," she said. She also emphasized that the only way to stop these hate crimes is to continue this spirit of courage, and to let it bring about changes.
In order to promote such changes and to make students aware, organizers handed out plain red buttons to everyone who attended. The use of buttons as symbols for woman's rights is a uniquely Tufts tradition, which has been around since the 1980s.
"We're hoping that people will come up to you and ask 'what in the world it that for,' and then you'll start talking to your friends and people you run into about this important issue," Barrett said. The buttons will continue to be available at the Women's Center, located next to the Campus Center, at 55 Talbot Avenue.
The rally concluded when participants marched down the library steps and across campus, chanting "Students unite - take back the night," and "We want to be safe on Professors Row."
Freshman Amy Spindel, who works at the Women's Center, felt that both the march and the rally combined helped to promote awareness about this matter of concern.
"This rally was a positive way of calling attention to this important issue," she said, "and the march helped to make others aware of the problems. People were opening their windows as we marched by and so they clearly heard what we had to say."
