UB’s Sexual Violence Prevention and Response Unit will hold its annual “Take Back the Night” rally and information sharing event to combat domestic and sexual violence on campus from 4-9 p.m. Oct. 26 on the North Campus.

“Take Back the Night is important because its purpose is to help make the campus community — students, faculty, staff and visitors — feel safe from sexual and domestic violence,” says Olivia Judge, a graduate student employee with the Sexual Violence Prevention and Response Unit, part of Health Promotion. Judge is also co-organizer of the event with Alayna Tatarka, a first-year MSW student, and fellow graduate student employees with the sexual violence and response unit.

“By coming together and demonstrating solidarity through this event and all of the activities we are planning to do, we are able to show survivors that they are not alone in their experience and that they have support across the entirety of UB’s campuses.”

The annual event includes numerous activities including poster and sign-making/sunset watch/hangout from 4-5:20 p.m.; Light Up the Sky (with biodegradable lanterns) from 5:20-5:50 p.m.; a Light Our Fires “hype-up session” from 5:50-6 p.m.; a rally and march from 6-7 p.m.; and an indoor/outdoor Glow Party! from 7-9 p.m.

The committee will announce exact locations of these rain-or-shine events. Information and updates will be available on the organization’s social media Facebook and Instagram pages @theuballiance and @ubmensgroup. 

The event will adopt a “glow theme.”

Take Back the Night is an informal event, according to its organizers, who suggest participants dress in comfortable clothes and prepare for all activities and weather.