The only sound coming from Eisenhower Chapel at about 7 p.m. yesterday was a lone violin. Sometimes sad and sometimes fast and powerful, the song that violinist Eric Schoon played reflected the various portions of the event in the chapel that night.
A special healing gathering called Honoring Survival: Transforming the Spirit was held yesterday for survivors of sexual, emotional and physical violence and their supporters. The gathering was sponsored by The Center for Ethics and Religious Affairs and The Center for Women Students.
Audra Hixson, the program coordinator for The Center for Women Students, spoke about validating survivors' struggles. She said if violence occurs in nature, it is called a natural disaster and people mobilize and work together to change the devastating effects; but that's not always the case with sexual violence.
"If it's sexual violence, we may not even speak of it at all," Hixson said, "and allow it to continue."
Hixson said a lot of different words are used to label sexual assault: dating violence, rape, domestic violence and the acts themselves can range from spoken words, touching, sexual acts or threats.
Sexual assault can often be haunting for survivors, Hixson said.
"Many survivors will relive the event over and over again in both mind and body," she said, "through smell, song or a pat on the back."
And in some cases, the bonds the survivor has with people before the assault can break because of a sense of blame. The secrecy the survivor has to maintain adds to the "layers of trauma."
Another speaker at the event, Beth Clark, spoke about fears people face through their lives.
"Humans are born with two fears: the fear of falling and loud noises," she said. "All other fears are learned."
Clark said if humans can learn fear, then fear can be unlearned, too, because fear blocks out love.
"Fear transported, translates to empowerment and love," Clark said.
Two students in attendance, Cecilia Garcia (freshman-division of undergraduate studies) and Iwona Boska (freshman-forensic science), said they wished more people had come.
"I wish it was a bigger thing," Garcia said. "People do big things for AIDS and different things. I wish people supported this more."
Besides the opening violin music, there was a short singing performance by graduate student Annie Holmes and a trio of drummers at the end of the gathering. Garcia said she liked the incorporation of the music.
"Music speaks when words fail," Garcia said. "It summed up feelings in a different way."
"Be Strong," the song Holmes sang, was about getting through the hard times and persevering.
"When you're like a single flower whose colors have turned to shades of gray," Holmes sang, "well, hang on, and be strong."
