For 30 years colleges, women’s centers, and rape crisis centers have sponsored Take Back the Night events to take a stand and speak out against sexual assault and abuse. To raise awareness, support survivors, and end the silence, Goucher College is presenting these events on Tuesday, April 16, starting at 7 p.m. in Pearlstone Atrium:
Self-Defense Demonstration
Male and female students are invited to learn how to fend off an attacker. The demonstration will be given by Annie Cutchen ’14, a self-defense instructor and organizer of Goucher’s mixed martial arts club.
Main Presentation
Guest speakers will include representatives from TurnAround Inc., a domestic violence and sexual assault center, and the Shofar Coalition, a collaborative program to address childhood physical, sexual and emotional trauma in Baltimore’s Jewish community, and Goucher Psychology Professor Rick Pringle. Reverend’s Rebels, Goucher’s female a cappella group, also will perform.
Community Speak-Out
The Speak Out, a portion of the event in which community members have an opportunity to anonymously share their own stories, can be a particularly empowering experience. It can also be a particularly emotional part of Take Back the Night. If you are intending to attend the event, it is recommended that you think about whether you might want to speak, as well as how to best take care of yourself before, during, and after the Speak Out, leading up to the event.
Goucher College’s Student Health and Counseling Center will be open until 9 p.m. on April 16 to help any students process their experience of the event.
For more information, contact Roshelle Kades, health and wellness coordinator, at rkades@goucher.edu or 410-769-5088.
Sponsored by the Student Health Advisory Committee, Peer Listeners, Psychology Department, Sociology Department, Green Dot, and the Feminist Majority Leadership Alliance