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The Hall of Languages was lit up with red lights as Syracuse University students and faculty gathered with LED candles and posters to raise awareness of the Red-Zone on Wednesday night.

Be With Survivors SU held the vigil — the organization’s first event of the year — in recognition of the spike in sexual violence on college campuses from the beginning of the fall semesters until Thanksgiving, a time period known as the Red-Zone.

“It’s about the Red-Zone, but it’s also a way to support survivors,” BWSSU President Jessica Rosen said.

Rosen said she wanted to make the vigil a “safe space” for survivors to talk about and share their stories with no judgment. Attendees were invited to share their experiences freely.

BWSSU executive board members and other students were joined by members of the Chancellor’s Task Force on Sexual and Relationship Violence and other faculty members, including Senior Vice President and Chief Student Experience Officer Allen Groves and Vice President of Student Transition, Access and Inclusion Dawn Singleton.

During the vigil, the approximately 20 attendees sat and stood on the steps of the Hall of Languages. Rosen opened the vigil by speaking about the Red-Zone and its consequences on college campuses. Fifty percent of college sexual assaults occur during the Red-Zone period, according to the American Psychological Association.

“It is heartbreaking to hear and even possibly bear witness of as it could be happening at parties,” Rosen said.

Rosen also shared her own experiences being sexually assaulted. She said that no one should ever go through sexual assault, especially at a young age or during their college years.

“It is why I take this so personally to heart and have become so passionate about this — my activism — because it has been a part of my healing journey,” Rosen said.

Craig Stone, SU’s associate vice president and chief of campus safety and emergency management services, said that he and Department of Public Safety Officer George Wazen recently spoke with fraternity and sorority presidents to provide them with safety information on how to keep their events, and their attendees, safe.

“We want to be proactive in sharing crime prevention education information because those things can help prevent things from happening,” Stone said.

Stone said the university has officers and trauma-informed investigators to help prevent victims who share their stories from feeling traumatized again.

Some attendees shared their frustrations with how DPS has handled cases of sexual violence on campus.

“There is a very deep structural problem within the way that DPS is managing these assaults,” a member of BWSSU said after sharing her story. She called for DPS to implement better response procedures to help victims of sexual assault.

Attendees also discussed how the structures of powers, like DPS, can enable sexual assault perpetrators to take advantage of survivors.

“You still are going to be punished for coming forward or you’re going to be punished by the fact that you have to see your perpetrator walk down the Quad,” another attendee said. “You’re punished every day that you walk around with having something like that happen to you.”

Emma Herrero, a senior studying chemistry in the College of Arts and Sciences, said that the vigil was the first BWSSU event she’s attended.

“This is something that’s more real … because people are sharing obviously personal stories,” Herrero said. “It’s beautiful what they do.”

The vigil concluded with a moment of silence for survivors.

“For me, having these vigils is such a safe space in a way to make sure survivors feel comfortable telling their truth,” Rosen said.

Published on September 28, 2023 at 12:50 am

Contact Kendall: kaluther@syr.edu