“Two, four, six, eight – stop the violence, stop the hate!”
That was just one of several chants that could be heard at Thursday’s protest march against sexual assault and the campus’ alleged inaction to protect its students.
More than 50 students gathered at the pavilion to bring awareness to the issues, while also sharing personal experiences of sexual assault. Threats made against attendees on an anonymous social media site known as Yik Yak prior to today’s event did not stop attendees from having their voices heard.
Tears were shed as women and men stood together to fight against sexual assault, raising concerns on campus regarding poor lighting and transparency in sexual assault investigations.
“With the cases, I would say no [the university is not taking the necessary precautions]. I’m tired of hearing ‘it’s under investigation,’” freshman Ximena Cantu said. “We have like what, six cases already in the span of the whole academic year, and only one of them has gotten solved? What about the others?”
Before the protest began, students passed out posters, bracelets and ribbons to anyone in attendance. Cantu kicked off the protest by thanking students for being there and sharing words of sympathy. Other students like Carmela Martinez and Erial Hawkins shared welcoming words. Soon after, the crowd began marching.
Students marched around College Hall, down University Boulevard and through campus, even stopping in front of College Hall to chant.
The march was escorted by the University Police Department (UPD).
“This is an issue that so many women on campus have faced, I thought it was important that we stand with them,” senior Natalia Flores said.
Along with students, staff members like Vice President of Enrollment Services and Student Affairs Rito Silva, Director of Marketing and Communication Adriana Garza-Flores, Chief of Staff John Carrillo, Executive Director of Athletics and Campus Recreation Steve Roach, and Assistant Director for Compliance and Academics Hanna Lantz were in attendance as the march began, but did not march with students.
As soon as students made it back to the pavilion, they gathered in a crowd and several of them shared their story of assault. The protest wrapped up with Cantu and Martinez encouraging students to use their voice, and they hung back in case anyone had any questions, comments or concerns.
Regarding the threats made against protestors, members of UPD said they take any such threat very seriously.
“We take these threats very seriously, the difficult thing is that it is on a social media site that is hard to track,” Interim Police Chief of TAMUK Gabriel Gonzalez said. “However, when there is a terroristic threat or a threat against students, we try to investigate as much as we can.”
Members of an athletic team on campus have been accused of sexual assault and making threats against women on campus through the Yik Yak app. Those allegations have not been substantiated.
The South Texan asked to speak with student athletes who were in attendance, but students were told they could not comment on the situation by Lantz and Roach.
“I am aware of some [accusations that have been made online]. I can’t say I know of every specific one, but I am aware of some of them,” Roach said. “I have no comment on that…the anonymous nature of the app is very challenging. We have a very strict policy about any type of harassment, ranging from harassment to sexual assault and anything that falls in that category, so we do take [it] serious and if we were to find something we would address it, but it is very challenging when it is in an anonymous app.”
Follow The South Texan for more information regarding the protest.