Expect Respect
One of the biggest perks of living on a college campus is (in my opinion) the opportunity to take advantage of the numerous speakers who flood campus over the course of a year. Last night, I went to hear Katie Koestner, a woman who helped coin the term "date rape" when she appeared on the cover of Time Magazine in 1991 after being raped by a classmate in her dorm room at the age of 18 at the College of William and Mary. Apparently, Katie is a staple in our Welcome Week schedule but I did not go see her last year. Enough upperclassmen were speaking about how powerful she is that I decided to go hear her last night.
While trying to explain her talk and herself to my U101 students earlier in the day, I described Katie as a dynamic, engaging, and energetic speaker who would speak very personally about being sexually assaulted. When the soft spoken, reserved, timid young-looking woman took the stage last night and began her story, I realized I was dead wrong in my description of her. And yet, with her soft-spoken tone, she described vividly the night in question 20 years ago when, as a young, vibrant, 18 year old, she went on a few dates with a guy at school before one night inviting him back to her room. In her mind, she hoped they would turn on some music and dance under the glow stars on her ceiling which she had taken great care to arrange in the forms of constellations. In his mind, he planned they would have sex. When he made an advance and tried to undress her, she stopped him and said No. I won't describe what happened next but it gave me chills listening to her describe the harrowing ordeal.
She shared not only her own story but a few others and challenged all of us in the room to step up, speak out, and not simply serve as bystanders. I was impressed at how taken the 1000+ freshmen in the room were with Katie and how invested they quickly became in her 45-minute talk. When we came back to the halls, my staff and I ordered some pizza and sat around discussing her speech. It was powerful.
It's good to be on a college campus! Yes, indeed.
Cheers.
While trying to explain her talk and herself to my U101 students earlier in the day, I described Katie as a dynamic, engaging, and energetic speaker who would speak very personally about being sexually assaulted. When the soft spoken, reserved, timid young-looking woman took the stage last night and began her story, I realized I was dead wrong in my description of her. And yet, with her soft-spoken tone, she described vividly the night in question 20 years ago when, as a young, vibrant, 18 year old, she went on a few dates with a guy at school before one night inviting him back to her room. In her mind, she hoped they would turn on some music and dance under the glow stars on her ceiling which she had taken great care to arrange in the forms of constellations. In his mind, he planned they would have sex. When he made an advance and tried to undress her, she stopped him and said No. I won't describe what happened next but it gave me chills listening to her describe the harrowing ordeal.
She shared not only her own story but a few others and challenged all of us in the room to step up, speak out, and not simply serve as bystanders. I was impressed at how taken the 1000+ freshmen in the room were with Katie and how invested they quickly became in her 45-minute talk. When we came back to the halls, my staff and I ordered some pizza and sat around discussing her speech. It was powerful.
It's good to be on a college campus! Yes, indeed.
Cheers.
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