PALO ALTO, Calif. — Stanford University graduating students and women’s rights advocates used the school’s commencement ceremony to again express their anger over the six-month jail sentence given to a former student for sexually assaulting an unconscious woman.
A handful of students demonstrated Sunday during “Wacky Walk,” a rambunctious, slow-moving stroll by graduating students dressed in zany costumes that precedes the official graduation events.
One person held a sign that declared “Stanford protects rapists.” Another graduate’s sign was a message to the victim: “You are a warrior.”
Organizers said they wanted to show solidarity to the woman sexually assaulted on campus last year by former Stanford swimmer Brock Turner.
“It’s very important to amplify the voice of survivors,” said Brianne Huntsman, a protest organizer.
The victim’s emotional statement to the court about how the assault devastated her life was widely shared online, attracting national attention to the case.
Documentary filmmaker Ken Burns, whose rousing keynote speech called on Republicans to reconsider their endorsement of Donald Trump, closed his address urging sexual assaults be taken seriously.
“If someone tells you they have been sexually assaulted, take it effing seriously and listen to them,” said Burns, who is the father of four girls. “Maybe someday we’ll make the survivor’s eloquent statement as important as Dr. (Martin Luther) King’s letter from the Birmingham jail.”