On October 8th, students at Florida A&M University gathered on campus for a peaceful rally organized to raise awareness of sexual and domestic violence and to support survivors within the university and Tallahassee community.
The protest, which was organized by Florange Marc, a graduating senior who has survived sexual violence, urged students to come forward and asked the university to take greater steps in supporting victims.
The rally began with a moment of silence in support of survivors, sending a message to the campus community: reach out, speak up, and do something. Marc said the rally was intended to remind survivors that they are not alone.
“I feel like we need to do more for people to make them see that they are heard,” she said. “The whole purpose of this protest is basically to just show people that you’re not alone.”
Campbell Oliver, a fourth-year health science general major, attended the rally in support of her friend, Marc. Oliver said students and university leaders should be more willing to have conversations about sexual and domestic violence.
“I feel like as a community, as students, especially student leaders, they should be able to talk about it more and they should be comfortable sharing those stories and basically creating a safer and better environment especially here at school,” Oliver said.
Darlene Cordero, an investigator with the FAMU Police Department, said her role is to investigate cases involving violent crimes and work toward prosecution when there is sufficient evidence.
“My expectation is, if there’s probable cause and evidence to make an arrest in that case,” Cordero said.
Cordero said her goal is to close cases by making an arrest when appropriate and then forwarding the information to the State Attorney’s Office for prosecution.
For Cordero, supporting survivors extends beyond an investigation and finds it important to provide guidance, therapy, and if needed medical assistance.
“My first thing is to listen to the victim,” she said. “And to just kind of check on my victim periodically.”
Cordero also emphasized that students do not have to immediately file a report to seek support.
“If they just want to talk, if they don’t want to report something, but they just want to talk to me, I’m always here,” she said.
A Table Talk seminar on sexual and domestic violence is also planned for this month. Cordero said she will participate alongside representatives from Student Affairs and Title IX to answer questions and discuss resources available to students.
For anyone who may be experiencing sexual or domestic violence, they can report it to the FAMU Police Department, which is located at 2400 Althea Gibson Way and is open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
