"Take Back the Night" event sponsors raise concerns over keynote speaker

Ben Privot will speak at GMU's Take Back the Night this year (Photo courtesy of Mark Webster).

This year’s Take Back the Night event features a speaker whose selection has raised eyebrows amongst the event’s sponsors.

“Take Back the Night is a rally and march celebrating survivors of sexual violence and their allies,” said Brittany Owen, president of the Feminist Student Organization in an email. “It’s a Mason tradition going back 22 years as part of Turn Off the Violence Week.”   

Mason’s Sexual Assault Services and Feminist Student Organization spearheaded the planning for the event.                                         

This year Take Back the Night will include a candlelight vigil, sign making, a reading of survivor stories, a march around campus and a rally.

The speaker, Ben Privot, is the founder of The Consensual Project, a program that advocates for the importance of discussing consent with sexual partners.

“The Consensual Project partners with schools and universities to bring students a fresh understanding of consent,” says The Consensual Project’s website. “The innovative curriculum, workshops and website empower young people to incorporate consent into their daily lives. The Consensual Project is committed to helping students connect through consent.”

Owen said they decided to ask Privot to speak after he spoke at Slutwalk Mason in May 2012.

“We were all blown away by [his] skill and warmth,” Owen wrote. “He’s a really fun and dynamic speaker, and I think he’ll be instrumental in not only celebrating survivors, but moving on past that.”

Not all of the event’s co-sponsors were on board with having Privot as the speaker.

“There was some initial concern on how having Ben speak might affect the tone of the night,” Owen said. “But we really wanted people to leave the event feeling empowered—and what better way to do that than by empowering our personal lives?”

Members of Student Government, the organization which helped cover the speaker’s fee, also expressed concern in a senate meeting.

“As an overall why some members opposed [sponsoring Privot], there were a few reasons,” said Alex Williams, Student Government president. Williams believes some of the senators in Student Government do not consider sponsoring speakers as a role of the organization. “The other opposition was more content based, that this is something that is inappropriate for Student Government to be involved with.”

According to the minutes from the meeting in which sponsoring Privot was discussed, Clerk De Robbio also found The Consensual Project’s website to be vulgar and degrading to women.

The article, titled "Dirty Talk: Gettin' Wordy and Gettin' Dirty," found on the website and referenced in the meeting, concerned discussing consent through dirty talk.

Some of the other senators thought the topic of consent was an important issue to bring to light on Mason’s campus.

“This is about healthy communication with healthy relationships,” said Senator Von Kundra in the minutes.

President Williams said he was “whole-heartedly” sponsoring Privot and Take Back the Night.

“It really isn’t about sex itself, it’s more about the consent,” Williams said. “I think by embracing that conversation, and throwing it out there for discussion, it emboldens the message that that conversation is trying to be discussed.”

Both Williams and Owen believe Take Back the Night is an important event for Mason students to attend.

“Take Back the Night celebrates a group so often silenced,” Owen wrote. “Often, when they step forward, they feel unsupported or alone; this is Mason’s chance to support them as a community should.”

Take Back the Night will take place on October 2.