Internalizing the idea of community at Dartmouth is difficult, to say the least. We are exposed to so many communities every day, from Greek organizations to sports teams to residential halls. While our affiliations to these groups are incredibly worthwhile and meaningful, we run the risk of leaving out countless individuals by forgetting that together, we are also committed to a larger group on campus the Dartmouth community at large.
Take Back the Night, a campus-wide march and rally against violence including sexual, physical and verbal violence is taking place today. Participating in this movement is perhaps one of the most important things you can do this week, this term or this year. Marching in solidarity with survivors of assault sends a powerful message of support and unity that reverberates around campus. This physical and visceral movement is about more than just marching and protesting. It is about creating the Dartmouth community that we originally signed up for.
A few days ago, I sat down with organizers of Take Back the Night, including Anneliese Sendax, and performers in Undue Influence, who will be performing a dance piece about assault. Sendax commented that as a survivor of assault, she felt the movement last year was able to transcend the traditional support system afforded to survivors. "You can have your five best friends hug you all you want, but having people who don't even know you walk with you is incredible," she said. "It felt like I was part of a real community."
Lending such physical support, such visible support, can be taxing and strenuous. After all, assault is absolutely horrifying. As a defense mechanism, people turn to denial and apathy when in fact they should be turning toward each other. From Bored@Baker posts poking fun of sexual assault and victims to general comments about the apparent lack of sexual assault on campus, this unnerving "assault" on victims post-assault needs to end.
People have spoken out against the walk in past years, arguing that the walk places unnecessary blame on innocent bystanders. However, Dani Levin, last year's organizer of Take Back the Night, said that these critics are not disdainful of the event itself but rather "experiencing discomfort with the recognition of each of their roles in allowing, tacitly approving and sometimes even outright committing acts of violence."
Often, we try to address issues on this campus by doing little more than just talking about them. We create panels and organize forums, but at the end of the day, the people participating in these discussions are only those who are already aware of the problems. Take Back the Night seeks to do something different. The march is a public and physical action at its core, as well as an invitation to all of the Dartmouth community to take part. As Levin points out, "The march, as a deliberate and active event, highlights the destructiveness of passivity."
When it comes to sexual assault, women are not the only victims; there isn't a gender divide. Everyone on this campus men, women or otherwise are victims by virtue of being part of a community and not taking action against systemic violence. You become a victim when atrocities occur to individuals around you and instead of standing up you sit down, claiming to be just an observer in this tragedy of tragedies.
It is not possible to be an innocent bystander in your own community. In living here and actively taking part in the culture, we must take ownership of the events occurring around us. As Genevieve Mifflin, a performer in Undue Influence, notes, these events that draw attention to sexual assault are not about placing blame, but rather about "taking ownership of the space you inhabit and truly being proud of that space in a productive manner." If we cannot be proud of our community and the events that occurred during our few short years here, then what is the moral takeaway from our experience in these hallowed halls?
Dartmouth is our space. It is what we all have in common on this campus and in this town, never mind different identities, opinions and perceptions. Take Back the Night is our time to come together and lend physical support to not just a cause, but our community. Should we walk hand in hand, surrounded by strength, surrounded by unity, perhaps then we can finally take back Dartmouth once and for all.
