Thank You For A Successful TBTND 2010!

Take Back the Night-Detroit was sponsored by the Marygrove College Office of Student Affairs, the Women’s Center, the Department of Social Work, the Student Government Association and the SASHA CENTER – a sexual assault community-based organization in Detroit.  As evidenced by the participation of the student body, faculty, staff, local agencies and community members, we are proud to say that the event was a huge success.

TBTN-Detroit was an awesome display of what is possible when we all work together for the betterment of all sexual assault survivors.  April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month and this year’s national theme is to “Prevent Sexual Assault on College Campuses.”  Marygrove College President Dr. David Fike has now recognized this by signing and affixing the official College seal to a national proclamation to end sexual assault on our campus.

The Take Back the Night-Detroit planning committee would like to thank everyone who participated this year to make the evening special.  We have attached the program so that you may review and use it as a keepsake, as it recognizes all who were involved.

We would like to especially thank Dr. Darrin Rankin, Vice President of Student Affairs, for his ongoing support and for making special arrangements in order to be able to attend and participate in the event, and the Marygrove College Student Government and Garth Howard for getting the student body on campus involved, for leading the march and rally, and for selecting and presenting the first Ava Rodgers Award (congratulations, Alexis Phenix).

We would also like to thank the community-based organizations who participated in this year’s event and who continuously fight to end violence against all people.

A special thank you to the Marygrove College student organizations, NETWORK, Diversity Club, and Sigma Tau Delta Honor Society and Dr. Loretta Woodard, for assisting with set up and providing needed resources to all participants.

We also specially thank Keisha Price (Sasha Center), Karisha Fenton (Wellspring Women’s Center), and Tzveta Tocheva (Marygrove, BFA ‘09) for the Candlelight Vigil, the Healing Tent and the Wall of Hope, all of which are integral parts of the TBTN-Detroit activities.

Thank you to all of the singers (Andrea Wilson, Keontaye Peoples, Erica Cole), poets (Laurie Lane, Valencia Vanner, Dee Matthews) and DJ InCreDuBle for making the space conducive to healing and celebration.

We also thank Kim McMillan and Ruby Williams of the Conference Center for the beautiful set-up and our campus Barnes and Noble bookstore.

We want to sincerely thank Sr. Kathy Blanchard for her wonderful work on both the Take Back The Night poster, as well as the program. We truly admire and appreciate her artistic and technical skills. Thank you so much, Sr. Kathy.

We also want to thank Marygrove College Security Staff for helping with keeping us safe and assisting all visitors on campus during our Take Back The Night-Detroit Event!

We especially thank SASHA Center for providing the leadership and support needed to have an event like this for the second time around on the beautiful campus of Marygrove College!

Finally, we truly thank our guest speaker, Lori S. Robinson, editor of B.L.A.C. Magazine, author of I Will Survive: The African American Guide to Healing from Sexual Assault and Abuse and rape survivor.  Her words were clear and her representation of the process of healing was honored, respected and appreciated. 

Please plan to join us next April when we again Take Back the Night-Detroit at Marygrove College!

For sexual abuse victims/survivor seeking help or assistance, please click here: Michigan Resource Center on Domestic & Sexual Violence