Iowa State students, staff and faculty will speak out, march by candlelight, and “Take Back the Night” to show their compassion for sexual assault and rape victims tonight.

The rally will be held at 7 p.m. south of the the Campanile on central campus, and everyone— men as well as women—are invited to attend.

Madeleine Henry, chair of classical studies at ISU, will be the keynote speaker for the rally. She said she hopes her speech, “All true anger is righteous,” will open people’s eyes.

“I look at this as an undeclared war against women. Violence against women in the street is a form of terrorism,” Henry said.

Most violence against women is perpetrated by men, Henry said, and therefore it won’t stop until men decide to do something about it.

Henry said that for this reason she thought violence against women should be looked at as a men’s issue rather than a women’s issue. Henry said she hoped many men would attend tonight’s rally.

Lynette Ward, of ACCESS, and Suzanne Zilber, of Student Counseling Services, will also speak to the crowd. Three ISU students will be reading poetry and two ISU students who are survivors of sexual assault will also speak out.

After the speak-out, participants will light candles and march across Lincoln Way, through the greek neighborhood and across the outskirts of campus.

Julie Wooden, office coordinator of the YWCA and co-chair of “Take Back the Night,” said the ISU drum line will lead the march and the Ames Police Department will stop traffic when the marchers cross Lincoln Way. Many of the greek houses will also have luminaries in front of their houses to light the path for the marchers.

“I think this is a unique and beautiful way to show support. I think it’s really moving because when the marchers go on their candle lit march, the luminaries will reflect back support,” said David Collins, Interfraternity Council adviser.

Collins said that 15 houses participated with luminaries last year. This year, 31 houses will participate by lighting luminaries. He said there will be more than 1,600 luminaries displayed.

“The march signifies a lot of things. It was originally for women to show that they should be able to be out at night and be safe, but now it is sort of a healing process for people.

“It is really a support system to have so many people marching with you. It brings up issues like women’s right to be safe at any time of the day,” Wooden said.

“Take Back the Night” was started in England in the 1970s. The first “Take Back the Night Rally” in the U.S. was held in San Francisco in 1976. Most college campuses now have an annual rally.

“The rally is really about empowerment for women and to gain support. Both men and women need to educate themselves in order to eliminate sexual assault,” said Lynette Hornung, co-chair of “Take Back the Night” and sexual assault awareness coordinator at the Women’s Center.

Wooden said ISU has had “Take Back the Night” rallies for about 10 years. Although some rallies have had sparse attendance, she estimated that last year about 200 people participated. She said she hopes for a big turnout this year also.