This Thursday, April 18th, the Feminist Uprising Collective Club of Boulder County campus will be hosting a Take Back the Night event for the eighth consecutive year.
It will be held in the BCC courtyard from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. and will include guest speakers, music, food, activities, and an open mic for survivors to share their stories.
Take Back the Night is a movement originating in the 1970s, “to stand against all forms of sexual violence,” according to the organization’s official website.
For Front Range Community College, Take Back the Night started with two feminist club members determined to bring the event to our campus. “It was totally student-driven,” said MaryAnn Grim, the faculty advisor to the feminist club and a professor of history and women’s studies.
Since that first year, the event has continued to grow. “I don’t remember how many people came the first year, maybe 50 or something. Then it was a hundred, then it was 150,” said Grim.
Now, alongside the feminist club, there is a Take Back the Night committee consisting of full-time faculty as well as student life.
“There’s a lot of coordination that goes into it,” said Zacharia Bell, a current member of the feminist club. “Some people might not see that, because it’s just a three-hour event once a year, but a lot of time goes into it, personal time,” he said.
The purpose of the event is multifaceted, said Grim. “You want to raise awareness that sexual violence happens in our backyard, you want to give people resources if that does happen to them or someone they love, and finally you want to create a safe space for victims to share their trauma and hopefully there’s some healing.” she shared.
The event will be community-focused with local guest speakers Eric Meckel from the Safe Shelter of St. Vrain; Dr. AnnJanette Alajano-Steele, a co-founder of the Laboratory to Combat Human Trafficking out of Denver; and Connie Galindo, a forensic nurse examiner and SANE program coordinator.
“There’s something to be said for meeting people face-to-face and hearing why they are part of the organization’s offering the resources that they do. I learned more from that than just knowing that they exist,” said Bell.
The culmination of the evening will be the open mic and candlelight vigil where the audience is invited to share their stories in a safe and accepting environment. For many, this is the most impactful aspect of the event.
“I didn’t go there planning to talk, I went there to sign people in at the door,” said Bell of last year’s event.
“For me, each time I’ve told my story I’ve felt heard and cared for, and Take Back the Night definitely has that, even with strangers,” he said.
Of the open mic segment of the event, Grim said, “It’s beautiful, and the sad part is people come for that first 90 minutes, they do all the fun stuff and the majority of people go home. They miss the heart of it.”
This year, the event will be held at 3, an hour earlier than it has been in the past, to encourage attendees to stay for the full event.
There is hope that, in the future, the new One Campus model will make Take Back the Night an event that can benefit Front Range Community College beyond the boundaries of Boulder County campus.
“We’re trying to connect with everybody because there are people on all campuses that could use the support. Maybe they just need some community. Maybe it’d be nice to hear that somebody’s doing something. Just because we have it here doesn’t mean it’s not needed there” said Bell.
One of the current feminist club members, Makayla Griffith, is not actually a student on the Boulder County campus, she is an online student who Zooms in on club meetings.
“My ultimate goal is to take the feminist club to all three campuses,” said Grim. “April is sexual assault awareness month, I’d like each campus to do something on a Thursday for sexual assault awareness and then the culminating event would happen here at Take Back the Night. That’s my dream.”
