Despite the threat of rain, more than 200 Iowa State students, faculty and Ames residents joined together Wednesday evening to protest sexual assault in the annual Take Back the Night rally.

The people assembled in front of Curtiss Hall, wearing purple ribbons and holding candles to reflect their message. The theme of the evening was “Put the Light Back in the Night.”

Julie DeVall, director of Assault Care Center Extending Shelter and Support, called the march and rally a “safe and honoring place for survivors to speak out.”

DeVall applauded the tremendous courage of survivors who are willing to raise their voices about sexual assault.

“Our message is golden,” she said. “The only shame is if we hold our tongues.”

With the Campanile chiming in the background, representatives from the Student Counseling Service, the YWCA and the Story County attorney’s office spoke at the event.

Brooks Morse, clinical psychologist at Student Counseling Service, cautioned the crowd about generalizing how a victim should behave after the assault.

“Survivors are individuals, and they heal in their own individual way,” she said.

Morse said the term “survivor” is crucial because it empowers women who have been humiliated and violated by sexual abuse.

“The word ‘victim’ suggests that we are damaged goods, and we are weak,” she said.

Morse also pointed out that society often blames the victim for the assault. She said this never should be the case.

“Culturally defined poor choices do not equal responsibility,” she said.

Morse reminded the audience to keep the identity of the survivor confidential.

“By telling you, she has honored you; she has trusted you,” she said. “Don’t betray that trust like the perpetrator did.”

An anonymous survivor took the podium and described the feeling of “sheer terror” she experienced when a peeper invaded her privacy in a residence hall shower room. She said the experience still haunts her.

“Every morning, in my mind, he is standing out there waiting for me,” she said.

The survivor asserted that she did not blame herself for what happened.

“This incident was in no way my fault, and realizing this helps me recover,” she said.

Another survivor who spoke at the rally was raped in her home by a man she had trusted.

“Maybe he didn’t hear me; maybe he didn’t feel me shaking; maybe he didn’t see me crying,” she said of her rapist.

However, she said the incident made her feel “cheap and dirty” and “robbed her of her body, mind, soul and spirit.”

“I’m here tonight because I am taking them back,” she said.

The rally was followed by a march that weaved from the Memorial Union, across Lincoln Way, and went west on Knapp Street.

The march continued north on Welch Avenue, back across Lincoln Way and around Lake LaVerne to end at the Margaret Sloss Women’s Center.

The ISU Groove drum line accompanied the marchers on their route. The women of Oak-Elm Hall led the group, chanting, “Join together/ Free our lives/ We will not be victimized.”

Jehan Faisal, co-chairwoman of the event and senior in English, enjoyed the “buzz of energy” among the participants.

She expressed her appreciation to those who “took this issue seriously.”

Stephanie Heying, co-chairwoman of the event, said she was amazed by the “adrenaline rush” of taking to the streets and chanting in protest of sexual assault.

“This event also proves that there are survivors out there, and that we can be strong,” said Heying, freshman in meteorology.

Nicole Lowe, junior in exercise and sport science, called the event “compelling.”

“The speakers did a wonderful job and presented a strong message,” she said. “It wasn’t ‘Feel sorry for me.’ It was ‘Let’s stop this.'”