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Founder of ‘Me Too’ movement speaks at UCCS

Posted at 9:54 PM, Apr 16, 2019
and last updated 2019-04-17 00:11:06-04

COLORADO SPRINGS – The “Me Too” movement has gone global in an effort to help survivors of sexual violence and on Tuesday night it hit home in Colorado Springs.

Tarana Burke, the founder of “Me Too,” spoke at University of Colorado Colorado Springs.

Organizers of the event say every year the university invites a significant person to speak on campus and with how prevalent the “Me Too” movement remains across the country, they chose Burke.

The goal of the event – to empower survivors and also educate the community.

Regan Welsh, a graduate student at UCCS and one of the event organizers, said, “I hope that one day there will no longer be a “Me Too” movement because this will no longer be an issue, but unfortunately we’re not there yet.”

It’s been over a year since #MeToo blew up on social media, spurring millions of people to share their experiences of sexual assault or harassment.

Welsh said, “More and more with the “Me Too” movement survivors are feeling comfortable and confident, speaking their truths and telling their stories.”

Catherine Grandorff, a teacher at UCCS and member of Colorado Springs Feminists, said, “I have a “Me Too”  story. Most of the women I know have “Me Too” stories. I think it’s less about the individual and more about all of us being able to come together and unite under that, and this event gives us that opportunity to do that.”

During the presentation Burke said, “What the “Me Too” movement is not is a witch hunt.”

She also said that it’s not about individuals, it’s about systems.

“If you can’t remember anything else the work that we are doing is about healing and action.”

Whether you made it to the presentation or not Welsh said all of this is a story worth telling.

“This is something that impacts all of us. It impacts college students at a high level. It’s something that across the board we should care about.”

She and other community members are hopeful that this will help more survivors and shed light on this terrible subject for those still in the dark.

Sexual violence is an issue at places like college campuses. As far as sexual assault cases connected to UCCS, the university said there was an incident on campus in February. Another happened in April and that was off campus.