STANFORD, CA (KGO/CNN) – A group of Stanford University students protested the school on Friday.
They called out officials for the way they plan to honor a woman assaulted in 2015 by a former Stanford swimmer.
Student protesters at Stanford read passages from a letter written by a woman known as “Emily Doe.”
“ ‘You took away my worth, my privacy, my energy, my time, my safety,’" read Stephanie Pham, the protest organizer, from Doe’s letter.
Doe was assaulted by former Stanford swimmer Brock Turner in 2015, and on Friday a group gathered in the same spot where that attack happened, to call out the university for refusing to use Doe’s chosen quotes on a requested plaque there.
"I am also a survivor of sexual assault and I know what it feels like to be silenced,” said student protester Bec Smith. “And I really just wanted to show my solidarity with Emily Doe."
Since the assault, the university has removed the dumpster where Turner attacked the woman and replaced it with a fountain and a bench.
Pham said honoring the survivor’s request is the least the university can do.
"Stanford, in not putting the plaque with her quote, was an act of silencing survivors,” Pham said. “And time and time again survivors across this campus, across the nation, but especially here at Stanford, have experienced that same exact act of silence."
It has not been revealed what words Doe wanted, but a university spokesman said they would be triggering to survivors of sexual violence.
In a lengthy statement, the spokesman said: “Ms. Doe’s representatives had proposed two quotes that the university could not accept. They were inconsistent with a contemplative space where members of our community could peacefully reflect and seek solace.”
Brock Turner was convicted in 2016 of sexually assaulting the unconscious woman. He spent three months in jail, and is now appealing the conviction and asking for a new trial.
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