Students walk out to protest sexual assault
Oak Park and River Forest High School students walked out of classrooms on Friday, March 10 to demand greater awareness and action around sexual assault following an in-school field trip for seniors about sexual assault, empathy and consent.
Students Advocating for Equity (SAFE), a student group, organized the protest, which began in the Student Activity Center and ended in a rally outside the main entrance on Scoville Avenue.
“Throughout the recent years, we’ve become more accepting of boys ‘just being boys’ and sexually assaulting feminine presenting people,” senior Genevieve Westmeyer said during the march. “The point needs to get across that this isn’t OK, people aren’t OK, we aren’t OK, and just because we don’t say anything doesn’t mean we’re OK with it.”
Senior Faye Evans, who attended the protest, described many of the stories students told as “gut-wrenching. They make me want to cry. It’s just hard to wrap my head around.”
When asked about the protest, Jeet Chugh, a senior, said, “It’s heartwarming to see, and it’s a good sign that people are willing to address the issues.”
The protest came two days after “Set the Expectation,” a program run by the Physical Education division that focused on educating students about sexual assault, consent, healthy relationships and empathy.
“Set the Expectation” was part of a biannual March physical education self-defense review for seniors, according to an email to the community from Assistant Superintendent and Principal Lynda Parker.
The program’s goal was “to create an empathetic experience for all, firsthand survivors, secondhand survivors, allies and to create as much awareness as we could,” said Max Sakellaris, a physical education teacher.
Jennifer Kanwischer, another physical education teacher, added the program was meant to take “people who are like ‘does this really happen?’ to a place where, yes, it does, and it does concern you because we can all be part of a positive change.”
“Set the Expectation” took place on Wednesday, March 8. Seniors attended an all-day in-school field trip where guest speaker, sexual assault survivor and activist Brenda Tracy shared her story and spoke with students.
During her introduction, phones slowly went away and airpods came out of ears, although many still giggled to their friends as she explained how she would be telling her story as a survivor of sexual assault and gang rape.
The crowd got more serious when split into two different groups by gender (students were allowed to choose which group to attend). These smaller groups watched a video of Tracy’s story. However, not everyone took the presentation seriously; some students laughed at certain points.
When the whole group reconvened in the auditorium, Physical Education Teacher Linda Carlson facilitated a group question-and-answer session by reading questions students had written on cards. Carlson read one anonymous question that said a group chat of senior boys have been sharing nude photos of senior girls. The student asked if the boys were beyond saving.
Tracy was quiet for a while before asking the crowd if they knew this chat existed. Students responded with a loud, almost unified yell. The speaker was livid, and she told the audience if they were on the chat they needed “to cut that [expletive] out” and make the decision to change. “People are harmed and hurt by this happening,” she said. “This is a violation of someone’s autonomy.”
Students in the audience expressed anger about the revelation of the group chat and the reaction by some in the crowd.
According to senior Tori Hutson, one of SAFE’s leaders, some boys in the audience made derogatory comments about the speaker’s body, her experience and her trauma.
Senior Ma’ayan Kertcher said, “people were treating (the program) like a burden.”
Kertcher and Hutson said they believed the dismissive reactions came from students alleged to be perpetrators of or complicit in sexual violence.
The controversy intensified the next day following a post on the popular Barstool social media site that some argued seemed to be making light of “Set the Expectation” (that post has since been taken down).
Also on Thursday, SAFE made an Instagram post announcing a protest in front of the Student Activity Center at 1:30 p.m. the following day. The post circulated on social media platforms (primarily Instagram and Snapchat) and through word of mouth.
Within a day of the original post, most of the school was aware of the planned protest. Grace Hamilton, a senior, said the news got to her quickly. “Thank God we live in an age where social media is so prevalent, because it spread like wildfire,” she said.
As news of the protest spread, physical education teachers allowed SAFE leaders to speak to their classes.
“We’re not talking about sexual violence because is a hot button topic as of this week,” said Hutson in a speech to fourth-period gym classes prior to the protest. “I and many others have been dealing with group chats sharing our nudes, catcalling on the street, coercion for sexual pictures and hookups since, at the very least, the beginning of middle school. We are talking about this because of all the overtly repulsive behavior that has surfaced in response to a woman who shared her story about her own trauma, and the inhumanity of rape culture.”
Several other SAFE members spoke at the protest, which began at about 1:30 p.m. on Friday. There was a buzz as hundreds of students walked down the stairs to the main lobby of OPRF. Students lined along the stairs and crowded on the floor, looking up as the leaders of the student group.
Senior and SAFE leader Taylor Montes-Williams opened the protest, and as they did an echo of “shhhh”s circulated among the crowd. School staff watched the gathering from the outskirts, some of whom ushered out students who were laughing.
Montes-Williams and other SAFE leaders, including seniors Hutson and Wami Osikanlu, and juniors Bella Lubelchek, Claire Lesiowski and Sophia Powell, delivered spoken word pieces and other statements.
Montes-Williams delivered a spoken word piece that said, “Let a woman speak out loud and they act like you shook the room.”
They then listed their demands of the school, which were as follows:
- Students will hold each other accountable
- Brenda Tracy’s “Set The Expectation” video and lesson will be implemented and required for all sports teams
- The administration helps create norms for a healthy and safe school environment
- The administration will work with experts on sexual violence for cases of reporting of sexual assault.
Francisco Achurra, one of the SAFE faculty advisors, later clarified, “we haven’t finalized the demands from the school yet with the students.”
At 1:48, the SAFE leaders led the protesters in a march outside the school. The crowd of a few hundred people appeared to be about 60 percent female-presenting people and 40 percent male-presenting people.
Athletic Director Nicole Ebsen, Executive Director of Communications Karin Sullivan and other administrators stood on sidelines with walkie talkies. Three police cars were on site.
Students marched North down Scoville Avenue and around several surrounding blocks before returning to the front of the building. As they marched, students chanted, “Yes means yes, and no means no,” “What were you wearing? Doesn’t matter,” and “Stop the violence; no more silence.”
Students congregated near the main entrance at 2:10 p.m. Two minutes of silence were held in honor the survivors and victims of sexual violence. During that time, nothing could be heard but birds chirping, the occasional honk of a car and the squeak of the door. One of the last snowfalls of the year sprinkled overhead. Afterwards, the crowd applauded.
At 2:13 p.m. the megaphone was opened to public comment. For the next hour, people took turns standing up and telling their story or calling out the people in their lives. More than two dozen students were in line to speak.
Sophomore Genesis Galloway was one of them. She said sexual assault and rape culture is “seen as a joke when it’s not a joke. It’s something that’s serious thing that ruins lives (and) pushes people to suicide.” She further explained how it “affects me every day when I walk outside and have the fear of getting kidnapped or raped or worse. And it’s a horrible thing.”
Every speech was followed by applause and the occasional tears. When people were nervous to speak, the crowd encouraged them and supported them through cheering. When a survivor announced that nobody had believed them the crowd screamed “we believe you!” in response.
Shortly before eighth period (roughly 2:17 p.m.), Parker informed students they could go in for the last period of the day, but they could not enter the building halfway through the period. She said students could continue to protest if they so chose. Most students stayed outside to hear the rest of the public comments.
After the protest at 4:22 p.m., an email was sent out from the school by Parker: “I want to be very clear that as a school community, we hear and understand the reasons behind the rally and walkout. Both sexual violence and making light of it are reprehensible and unacceptable,” the email said.
“I and other administrators will be working with students to discuss how we can work together to increase the awareness of sexual and interpersonal violence and how to prevent it,” the email continued. “All students deserve a safe, affirmative learning environment, and we are committed to ensuring that for everyone in our school community.”
On Tuesday, March 14, SAFE held a meeting about next steps. Discussions between SAFE and the administration about how to address sexual assault at OPRF are in process, according to Montes-Williams.
Additional reporting by Trapeze Staff