Read Saturday Night

Those of us who are seniors probably remember the Wannamaker attack as one of the defining moments of our sophomore year. In fact, it was such a defining moment that two years ago, in response, a publication was created at this university to address the problem of sexual assault. We created Saturday Night: Untold Stories of Sexual Assault at Duke—in part to inform, in part to help people heal and in part to provide a voice where there simply wasn’t one.

Last week marked the release of Saturday Night, 2nd edition. It is an opportunity for those of us who felt helpless to change what we discovered to be the harsh realities of life during Sexual Assault Prevention Week to do something—be part of creating a culture that does not tolerate sexual assault, and foster that at Duke.

You might wonder, “why another edition? What does this Saturday Night have that the last one didn’t, and why should I read it?” Merely picking up a copy will show you that we have undergone a growth process. We have grown as founders, as an organization, hopefully as a campus, and we believe the content of this publication has grown tremendously as well.

Through this publication, we took a tragedy and turned it into a positive, educational experience for our entire campus. Survivors found an anonymous forum in which to make their voices heard, helping them heal. But edition two does much more. It includes the voices of administrators, professors and concerned students writing about issues of gender and power that underlie sexual violence. We as editors have attempted to go deeper into the healing process, to be more representative of racially diverse views, and to include the perspective of males. The second edition also includes photography by a number of Duke students who used other Duke students as their models. This is a publication with our own stories, our own bodies, our own faces, our own professors, our own talent—it literally cuts out a piece of Duke and exposes it for the world to see. The question is, will you be one of the people who sees it?

We feel that sexual assault is much more than a crime. It is a symptom of a greater societal problem, which, as members of a liberal arts institution, we have the amazing opportunity to discuss among our peers. So here is a challenge for you: pick up a copy of Saturday Night. But don’t just do that; TALK about it—over coffee, a beer, dinner, whatever. Pass it on to someone, especially if you think that person needs to read it, for whatever reason that may be. Our purpose is not to shock, but to make you think beyond what you already know. It is not to make you hate Duke by reading about what happens here, but realize this is a problem in society that affects all of us. The hope is that we will start to ask, “why does this happen?” and “what can I do about it?”

Aparna Krishnaswamy

Trinity ’05