All names were changed for anonymity.
5:30 PM. About half of the crowd was finishing up their posters. “Consent is sexy,” one said. “If she was asking for it, why couldn’t you?,” wrote another protestor. We were all chattering. Some people seemed nervous, while others were calm.
Suddenly it became dead silent. “I think it’s starting,” my friend whispered to me, looking up to see people marching upfront. The posters went up at once. We were going. Our voices were finally going to be heard while we marched towards PIKE, or Pi Kappa Alpha, to stand against something so obviously disgusting yet so normalized in a college setting.
About one in five college-aged women, according to RAINN Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network, experience sexual violence. And those are the ones who’ve come forward, whether it’s reporting to the police or seeking counseling from various organizations. CU Boulder isn’t an exception, given the fact that the majority of CU students have heard about someone getting drugged, raped, groped, or assaulted at some point in their college career. Some are complicit.
But we, the protestors, were tired of it. Tired of the constant talk about which fraternity did this or which girl transferred after a horrifying first semester as a freshman. Tired of calling the police knowing damn well that any reports are for everyone to see because those records aren’t private. We were done.
Marching next to the C4C, I tried my very best to look towards the front of the marching crowd (being 5’2 comes with some complications). It was a large crowd. The thick line snaked way past what was in sight.
We marched at a steady pace all the way up to the fraternity house. I vaguely remember seeing this same house bustling with life freshman year: the front yard packed with people, smiling and laughing, drinking out of cheap-looking beer cans. I didn’t go in because quite frankly, I was too intimidated, so I took the Buff Bus back home, alone, while the girls on my floor raised their eyebrows at my departure. I’m glad I listened to my gut. Because two years later, right around that time, the same fraternity looked desolate, with no signs of happy-go-lucky partiers. The tan concrete had noticeable cracks in it and clearly stood out among the beautiful sorority and fraternity houses that surrounded them on The Hill.
The crowd wrapped around the house, screaming, chanting “No means no” and “PIKE spikes.” “SHUT IT DOWN,” the person next to me screamed. At that moment we all felt something that almost felt alien. All genders, ages, majors, and backgrounds came together, standing for a cause that should be universal. No one messes with a woman’s autonomy like that, no matter who they are. They don’t get away with treating people like objects. Like disposable items to be degraded and thrown out. For the first time, as a junior, I felt solidarity.
It suddenly went quiet again. People started sitting down. I vaguely heard a girl start speaking on a megaphone. Since I’m hearing impaired and was pretty far away, I couldn’t hear much. However, what I could make out sent shivers down everyone’s spine. “My name is Anna,” she spoke. “I’ve been drugged, raped, touched, and catcalled on The Hill, and while it might not be all of those, everyone here has experienced something similar.” The crowd started cheering. Some people started sniffling. We all sat there, knowing the gravity of the situation, and that any impact someone could make pushes our campus towards one where we stick up for other Buffs, and pushes back when people are complicit when such horrible things happen to our peers.
I’ve been to countless protests. Some small and peaceful, some violent, some with matching costumes (those are fun), but not once have I felt such a sense of solidarity. We should be proud.
Resources
- CU Boulder Office of Victim Assistance
- CU Boulder Office of Institutional Equity and Compliance
- CU Boulder Counseling and Psychiatric Services
- Rainn (Rape, Abuse & Incest Network) National Sexual Assault Hotline (call 800-656-HOPE (4673))
- Boulder County Safehouse Progressive Alliance for Nonviolence (24-hour crisis hotline 303-444-2424)