Awareness for Sexual Assault on Campus
In October of 1991, students and faculty got together on the Quad to raise awareness for sexual assault on campus. This rally was largely in response to a reported rape in president’s park on September 4th of that same year. The “Take back the Night” chant used by protestors was a reference to the first women’s protest against sexual assault, a common name for the general movement against sexual assault and violence against women. The Director of Housing and Residential Life, the Dean of Student services, and the president of the intrafraternity council were present at the rally along with many other men showing their support for women on campus.
This was not the last protest of this nature on Mason’s campus. In 1997, a similar “Take Back the Night” was held on the Johnson Center Plaza, now Wilkins Plaza, with over 200 students, faculty, and community members joining. This event was sponsored by the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity with the intent to “break the silence” surrounding rape and sexual assualt. Approximately 35 of teh brothers attended the event. The event featured speakers such as one woman from the African American Studies Center who led the crowd in a chant of “I am somebody, and I can make a difference, and I can take back the night”. Other speakers included a Student Assistant for the Women’s Center, the Sexual Assault Services Coordinator, and a student singer.
Sexual assault and harassment is still an issue that Mason student’s care deeply about. After a rise in on-campus sex offenses for 3 consecutive years, Sexual Assault Services sponsored a "Turn off the Violence Week" in 2008. As a part of this week students participated in a peaceful march through campus as well as demonstrations such as the clothesline project in which students could decorate shirts in dedication to sexual assault survivors and hang them in the area between Harris Theatre and SUB 1. This event continues to be held at George Mason, though the location for the clothesline project continues to move throughout campus.