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News

March takes the night

Victims shared stories at organized campus walk against sexual assault, honored with candlelit vigil 

by CATALINA OTALORA
The Daily Cougar

A crowd of 102 marched against sexual assault Wednesday night from the Quadrangle to the University Center Arbor in an effort to raise awareness at the Take Back the Night event.

Gail Hudson-Gillan, Learning and Assessment Services director for learning, and Beverly McPhail, director of the Women's Resource Center, described the event as a success.

"We were very pleased. There were already people waiting when I arrived at (the Quadrangle) and then, with a crowd of almost 70, we had a large group waiting for us at the Towers when we arrived," Hudson-Gillan said. "Even better, we had people who joined in when they saw us even though they had not planned to march."

"We were very pleased with the event. It was very moving as two women and one man shared their stories of sexual abuse and how they had been impacted," McPhail said. "They encouraged other survivors to break the silence and tell their stories and move from being victims to survivors."

An open microphone was available for attendees to share their experiences with sexual assault and one man came forward and spoke about his, McPhail said.

"We often think courage for men is running into a burning building, but courage is also being a man standing up and being vulnerable and telling his story of sexual abuse and paving the way for other men to follow," McPhail said.

Dina Gonzales also spoke at the event about the UHPD escort service and the Rape Aggression Defense program, an intensive self-defense program, and Leticia Manzano, from the Houston Area Women's Center, talked about the services they provide to rape survivors and victims of domestic violence.

A candlelight vigil honoring sexual assault victims ended the evening while Katherine Young, a mezzo-soprano at the Moores School of Music, sang "The Prayer," a piece by Carole Bayer Sager and David Foster.

"The lyrics ask that God watch over us on our journey, especially ‘when stars go out at night' and ‘when shadows fill our day.'  I felt these words were appropriate to the situations that many of the women had gone through, situations that were probably the darkest times of their lives," Young said. "It was a pleasure and an honor for me to lend my voice to such a worthy cause."

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