Yesterday, students assembled at various locations across campus in groups of four -- three dressed in black and the fourth in red -- representing that one in four college women would be sexually assaulted sometime in her life.

Students from WMNST 003 (Introduction to women, humanities and the arts) put on the demonstrations to raise awareness about sexual assault crimes as part of the class. They gathered at seven different locations during four different 15-minute periods.

They wrote facts about sexual assault inside drawn footprints with chalk on sidewalks. "Every two minutes, a woman is assaulted in the U.S.," said one fact.

The footprints were intended to be symbolic, said Stephanie Springgay, the teacher of the class who initiated the performance.

"They could have been the footprint of someone who was sexually assaulted," she said.

One of the chalk footprints identified sexual assault as "unwanted verbal or visual contact or force." Another said: "Sexual assault on campus is the most underreported violent crime because it is committed by an acquaintance."

The students also held tape recorders playing stories from students in the class about how sexual assault had affected their lives. The tapes covered many aspects of sexual assault, from the students' opinions on why it happened, to the aftermath of assaults that they had observed in friends.

Some of the students' narratives blamed assault on the clothes victims wore or the victims allowing themselves to be treated disrespectfully.

The effect of sexual assault on victims was also discussed on the tapes. They said many victims feel they are at fault for sexual assault and feel guilty unnecessarily. Victims also have trouble trusting men after sexual assault, according to the taped testimonies.

Lee Castillo (junior-economics), a participant, said he thought the demonstration achieved its goal.

"It was effective for the most part," he said. "As long as you raise some sort of awareness."

Students watching the demonstration agreed with Castillo.

"If it weren't for demonstrations like this, then even the assaulted wouldn't know how common it is," John Bennett (senior-Japanese) said.

Greg Gehl (senior-science) said the demonstration taught him about sexual assault.

"The statistics are pretty surprising," Gehl said. "This demonstration's a good thing."