Thursday night, 232 students marched across a dark, frigid campus in observance of “Take Back the Night,” a 20-year-old-tradition at Wesleyan. As they huddled together, sharing stories and support, taking back the night is exactly what they did.

“The march is intended to acknowledge the presence of and represent the fight against sexual assault,” said Meg Swan ’05, the central coordinator of the event. “[It provides] an opportunity for survivors of sexual assault to share their experience and for participants to show their support.”

The march began at 8 p.m. with a rally on the front steps of Olin Library featuring a performance by the Cardinal Sinners, an all female a cappella group. The rally was followed by three speak-out circles in the Butterfield Courtyard, in front of North College and in the CFA courtyard.

Onomatopoeia, another all female a cappella group, opened the first speak-out circle with a song that left marchers with goose bumps.

Between each circle, groups such as Beta, Lambda, Psi U and Theta provided hot chocolate, cookies and hand warmers for the marchers.

“I was really surprised and excited to see that the frats got involved to help build Wesleyan community,” said Veronica Slaght ’07 an organizer of the march. “It was really impressive.”

Students attending the march said they were moved by the power and emotional charge of the event.

“I think that it’s incredible that people stand up and talk about their experiences. It always surprises me how many speakers say that they didn’t expect to speak,” said Niv Elis ’05.

The importance of respecting the speakers as well as the significance of the listeners was stressed throughout the event.

“It is amazing and very important that people turn out. People need to know that sexual assault is something that is always there and that it’s okay to [let] these things out,” agreed Julia Lerman ’05 and Lindsay Underhill ’05.

“With the recent hate crimes at Wesleyan, this event brings everyone together. They know they’re not alone,” said Suzanne Tran ’08, a first-time marcher. “It’s a great way to educate in the hopes of bringing change.”

A Student of Color Preforum was held before the march. The Preforum was geared toward “all people of color, of all genders and gender identities,” said Hetert-Qebu A. Walters ’05 one of the planners of the Take Back the Night: Student of Color Preforum.

“There are no limits to the reasons that speak to the importance of this event. On a personal level I think it’s important to discuss sexual violence in communities of color because of the silences that have been created around this issue,” Walters continued.

“With that in mind, the forum [provided] a space for us to come together and break these silences and talk about this in a way that starts from a standpoint that sexual violence affects us all, so how do we fight against that within our communities, as a community.”

“I feel proud to be a part of something that means so much to so many people. When you see what happens that night, you realize that it takes on its own culture. And that’s how you change things,” Swan affirmed before the start of the march.

Three Connecticut Sexual Assault Crisis counselors were available throughout the march and the Office of Behavioral Health remained open until midnight for students who wanted to discuss the event. There was also a debriefing space for community members at 200 Church Street following the event.

The preparations for the rally began at the start of the semester. The Women’s Resource Center spearheaded the event but received substantial assistance from other student groups around campus. There were over 30 students involved in the planning and prep work, according to Swan.

Take Back The Night rallies and marches began in England to address the fear that women encountered walking at night. The first Take Back The Night in the United States was in San Francisco in 1978.

“It is making it more than the next four hours … it is fuel for action and there are many ways to get involved at Wesleyan,” Swan said in her remarks at Olin. “It is also about empowerment, changing ourselves, others and the culture. Sexual assault does not have to be part of our reality.”