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The Dartmouth
July 24, 2025 | Latest Issue
The Dartmouth

Activist speaks about violence against women

Award-wining documentary filmmaker, writer and anti-sexism activist Byron Hurt never envisioned himself as the face of a program that would educate men about violence against women. However, the former college quarterback who has become a renowned gender-related violence prevention educator will spend two days at Dartmouth as this year's Center for Women and Gender "Visionary in Residence."

As a high-profile student at Northeastern University in the early '90s due to his athletic involvement, Hurt was sought out by the university's Mentors in Violence Prevention program to speak against violence toward women, but Hurt said he originally did not believe that the program was for him. The importance of the program, however, eventually dawned on Hurt when he witnessed the program's leader, Jackson Katz, interact with a group of college students at Northeastern, he said.

"There was a lack of men in general who stood up and spoke out about these issues and as [Katz] talked I had flashbacks about my own experiences as a man in the locker room or in a fraternity," Hurt said.

Hurt's recent documentary, "Hip-Hop: Beyond Beats and Rhymes," premiered at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival and was broadcast on the Emmy Award-winning Public Broadcasting Service series Independent Lens.

"The Center for Women and Gender is commonly misconceived to only serve women's issues, but we are also concerned with intersections of race, gender and socio-economic class," Stephanie Chestnut, assistant director of the Center for Women and Gender said. "With [Hurt] we wanted to focus on men's gender issues of masculinity."

Speaking to undergraduates, faculty and community members during a dinner at the Hanover Inn on Tuesday evening, Hurt asked the handful of men present what they do to avoid sexual assault on a daily basis. In unison, the men present replied, "nothing."

When Hurt directed the question at the mainly female audience, various methods were mentioned, including walking home with friends and limiting alcohol consumption.

"How many guys in the room, right before you go to a party or a club with your boys, turn around and say, Now listen fellows, we came to this party together, we are going to leave this party together?'" Hurt asked. "If you see me leaving this party with some unfamiliar woman I do not know, I want you to stop me.'"

During his address, Hurt focused on the social constraints that define masculinity, which often prevent males from allying themselves with issues perceived as female, such as sexual assault, in a public way, he said. Men grow up trying to achieve specific characteristics that will make them a "credible male" in American culture, Hurt said.

Society defines males by certain characteristics such as the "boys don't cry" mentality and males who behave outside culturally-perceived norms are considered emasculate, Hurt said.

"Not only does feminism give women a voice, but it also clears the way for men then to free themselves from the stranglehold of traditional masculinity," Hurt said.

In a meeting with Dartmouth's Mentors Against Violence on Tuesday, Hurt tried to inspire male involvement in the program, emphasizing the importance of "male bystander intervention," Hurt said in an interview with The Dartmouth.

"There's a certain reaction a lot of guys receive when they do this type of work," Hurt said. "But it is very important for guys to understand that you have a tremendous responsibility to educate the men around you and stand apart from the rest of the guys in the face of violence against women."

Hurt will meet with the Student Presidential Committee on Sexual Assault and the Interfraternity Council on Wednesday. Katz will speak in honor of the 40th Anniversary of WISE, a community organization aimed at helping victims of sexual assault and physical abuse, on May 3 at Dartmouth, according to Chestnut.