Me Too Purdue keeps marching, promises more

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Purdue students march Friday afternoon along State Street, calling on the university to do more to cut down on sexual assault on and near campus. (Photo: Dave Bangert)

Since organizing on campus last fall, after a series of sexual assault reports had students calling on the university to make changes in its response, Me Too Purdue has built a network based on being a place to candidly share often harrowing stories meant to say: You’re not alone.

On Friday afternoon, early into the spring semester, close to 100 people marched around the edges of campus, chanting on their way to the steps of Hovde Hall, Purdue’s administrative building. There, with temperatures in the low-20s, men and women shared personal stories of sexual assault, how they coped – or never quite coped – with what happened and how the incidents shaped their college experiences and their lives.

“The biggest thing for us is that this has given so many people a voice,” Charlotte Russell, a Purdue senior and a founder of the Me Too Purdue organization, said. “We’re not going away. We can’t now.”