Grief, fear and the almost overwhelming desire to hide course through me as I watch approximately 200 students bearing signs silently asserting that “rape is not tolerable.” Tears spill over my face, and I hightail it to the arms of my best friends because I cannot stand alone. Having experienced sexual abuse, these feelings are part of my daily reality – though when I’m not surrounded by such a hugely profound witness to and outcry against rape, I can hold them in way more effectively.
In the wake of a sexual assault at Guilford, Guilford students silently gathered together on Oct. 9 to line the Dana sidewalks outside a faculty meeting.
I joined my friends, enveloping the exiting professors with concerns about rape at Guilford. I want the whole of Guilford to be a supportive home to which anyone can turn for help. At the demonstration, we were surrounded by sincere, open and honest support.
It is the potential for such support that attracted me to Guilford initially and it is what keeps me here today.
It is the potential for moments like the embrace I shared with a total stranger; Religious Studies professor Carol Stoneburner, walking along the student lines with genuinely and intently open ears and eyes, gave me a hug and whispered “good work.”
Professors forced to, at the very least, notice our presence responded differently. I watched a few walk along the sidewalk without being outwardly affected at all. Except for perhaps a slight speed in their step that may not have been there, had 200 pairs of eyes not been watching them.
Others, like political science professor Ken Gilmore, couldn’t “get enough.” He found the gathering “really impressive” and watched until near the end.
Participant Fedelma McKenna agreed with Gilmore. “I was amazed by the attendance,” she said. “It was powerful.”
The professors eventually finished leaving their faculty meeting, at which Dean for Campus Life Anne Lundquist and Cyndi Briggs, Director of Gender Awareness and Retention, had spoken about their plan to reform the school’s policy surrounding sexual assault and make it better known.
Signs in hand, we proceded to the front of Founders.
Caitlin Whitney-Gallagher, co-coordinator of the student organization Feminists Reaching Equality for Everyone (FREE), turned to the great mass of students. “Y’all are awesome,” she said, ” [this] restores my faith in Guilford and who we are.”
As one sign read, “safety is a right, not a privilege.” I have not been sexually assaulted at Guilford, but the safety of my home here has been compromised.
I fear that if I were to be assaulted here, the institution wouldn’t support me.
These feelings are real and shared by many, regardless of however laws or traditions currently dictate the ways in which Guilford handles sexual assault.
“From what I saw, I think we made a difference,” said junior Jason Terry, president of Pride. “We have to stand up for ourselves and our safety. And I think we did that effectively.