Colleges unite to fight sexual assault

April 13--A chilled rain cleared for an annual tradition Thursday as students marched to Take Back the Night, an international event with the mission of ending sexual and domestic violence.

Hartwick College and the State University of New York at Oneonta come together every year for the walk to Muller Plaza. It has been held locally since 1984, according to Opportunities for Otsego CEO Daniel Maskin.

Delsy Joya-Reyes, OFO's Violence Intervention Program Campus Coordinator, led the speeches and the route through downtown streets.

"Throughout history this has been seen as a women's issue," she said, calling for support of survivors of sexual and domestic violence and offering statistics.

One in six American women has been the victim of a rape or attempted rape in her lifetime, according to RAINN, the Rape Abuse and Incest National Network, with the majority of victims of sexual assault and rape between the ages of 12 and 17.

College-age women also have an elevated risk of sexual violence, and 11.2 percent of all students experience some type of sexual assault, according to RAINN, and the vast majority of perpetrators do not go to jail or prison.

Survivors of sexual violence from both schools spoke to a crowd of about 100 people on each campus. Cooperstown native Sean Miller shared that her experience led her to take a course to become a rape crisis counselor for OFO.

"I know now that my goal in life is to work until this doesn't exist," Miller said.

Hartwick speakers emphasized understanding consent and accountability, sharing experiences and guiding your peers.

"It's all of our responsibility to change our culture," said Taylor Ashton, Hartwick Women's Center co-president.

Sororities, including Hartwick'sGamma Phi Delta and Oneonta's Omega Phi Beta, marched wearing their letters and chanted down the street: "Yes means yes and no means no," and "We will not be victimized."

A candlelight vigil and moment of silence was held in Muller Plaza. The crowd heard from Elayne Mosher Campoli of the Otsego Pride Alliance, a new local group, who shared that transgender people experience higher rates of sexual violence.

Andrew Perez, a Phi Beta Sigma fraternity member and friend of Joya-Reyes, said that he was surprised to see only a few men attend, and that word of the event had not been spread among fraternities.

Erin Jerome, staff writer, may be reached at (607) 441-7221, or at ejerome@thedailystar.com. Follow her on Twitter at @DS_ErinJ .

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