In 2016, IUPUC was proud to be named one of the ten points of light by the Take Back the Night Foundation. To celebrate this honor and to raise the profile of Sexual Assault Awareness Month, the Feminism Club at IUPUC partnered with Turning Point Domestic Violence Services to hold IUPUC’s second Take Back the Night walk on April 27, 2017.
Spectrum, the Student Government Association, and IUPUC at large also contributed support to the event. Community members and IUPUC students, staff, and faculty participated in the event, which included a short program of speakers and the symbolic one-mile walk around the perimeters of IUPUC and Ivy Tech.
According to Sarah Flores, the Bartholomew County Preventionist for Young Adults at Turning Point, “I think both Denim Day and the Take Back the Night walk were important campaigns for not only Turning Point and IUPUC, but the whole community. Everyone here at the agency strives to create inclusive events that promote our resources and give people the tools to prevent violence, and collaborating with the Feminism Club at IUPUC helped make that possible.”
“We made almost 2,000 Denim Day buttons, collected Take Back the Night luminaries from different student organizations, and even got the chance to reconnect with former clients who came to the events,” continues Flores. Our partnership with IUPUC allowed our community to have an educational and inspiring Sexual Assault Awareness Month!”
Dr. Julie Goodspeed-Chadwick, Associate Professor of English and the Advisor of Feminism Club at IUPUC, remarks, “Symbolically, a Take Back the Night event is important for our campus and its community, but practically, it’s a way of bringing us all together. IUPUC has a dedicated group of feminist activists who care very much about IUPUC and Columbus and who advocate for women in many ways, one of which resulted in this event.”
Courtney Watkins, the incoming student president of Feminism Club at IUPUC, observed, “It is important to raise awareness of sexual assault and support survivors of sexual violence. Feminism Club was very proud to host Take Back the Night once again, and we strive to always be a light in the darkness.”
Clayton Ham, the incoming vice president of Feminism Club at IUPUC, noted, “Take Back the Night is important because of the awareness it presents. This event provides a bold statement: we are not going to hide anymore.”
Feminism Club and Turning Point plan to host another Take Back the Night event in October, which is Domestic Violence Awareness Month.
For more information, contact:
Sarah Flores (sarahflores@turningpointdv.org)
Julie Goodspeed-Chadwick (juligood@iupuc.edu)
Courtney Watkins (courwatk@umail.iu.edu)