The sexual assault allegations that surfaced regarding an anonymous Spelman College freshman student, @RapedatSpelman, and Morehouse students loomed over Spelman’s Commencement.
During the Senior Class Day Convocation that took place Friday afternoon, senior class president Neah Evering acknowledged Spelman sisters who have faced sexual violence by asking her peers to stand to their feet, Buzzfeed reports.
“The class of 2016 stands in solidarity with our sisters who have been victims and survivors of sexual violence,” Evering said. “We love you; we support you and we will not be silent until every victim and survivor has received justice… Thank you.”
Here’s Everything We Know About Rape Accusations At Spelman and Morehouse
The recent allegations made national headlines and generated protests over the belief that Spelman, despite its efforts to investigate the recent allegations, has not always done all it can to support victims as @RapedatSpelman detailed in her alleged testimony.
“It’s really frustrating for us as a senior class to leave and this is still happening,” Ayana Lindsey, a history major headed to Dallas to be a financial analyst for Goldman Sachs told Buzzfeed. “We just wanted to say something as a class because we are all fed up.”
Graduating seniors and alumnae alike share the sentiment.
Marcella Law, who graduated from Spelman in ’86, was there for her 30-year reunion. She told Buzzfeed she may not let her daughter apply to become a Spelman Woman.
“I’m looking at the dorm I lived in on campus; I’m looking at the arch, and I’m looking at all these relationships that have been established between Spelman and Morehouse, and I’m thinking, ‘what here could ever be more important than the safety of my child?’ Nothing,” Law affirms. “Legacy will never be more important to me than the safety of my daughter.”
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