Hundreds protest UNC's handling of sexual assault cases
CHAPEL HILL (WTVD) -- Hundreds of students beat the pavement Friday evening. They marched on UNC's campus to protest the way they say the university's administration handles sexual assaults.
They started at the Peace and Justice Plaza along Franklin Street to talk about their demands to the university.
"We demand that the University of North Carolina prioritize the rights of survivors," said UNC senior Justine Orlovsky-Schnitzler into a megaphone to the crowd.
They also opened the floor to welcome any survivors of sexual assault to share their stories.
Jillian Murray took that invitation and the megaphone to share her experience.
"UNC's business is protecting their own reputation," Murray told the crowd.
Murray said she unwillingly left the university in 2014 after her attack. She said she's still battling the school legally in the way she said it handled her case.
"DPS and the Title IX office have consistently demonstrated victim blaming questioning tactics and that's a problem," said Murray.
This gathering comes days after UNC sophomore Delaney Robinson told the world she was raped by a football player on campus in February. She publicly accused the university of doing nothing to help her.
Delaney Robinson, father, speak exclusively to ABC11
Earlier on Friday, Chancellor Carol Folt released a letter to the student body. In it she said while she can't talk specifics, she assured students that they take cases of sexual assault extremely serious.
READ CHANCELLOR CAROL FOLT'S LETTER TO STUDENTS (.pdf)
"I felt it was a pretty standard response," said Orlovsky-Schnitzler. She said found some comfort in the chancellor reaching out to students, but still hopes their march sparks more conversation beyond closed doors as well as around campus.
The group marched more than a mile from the Peace and Justice Plaza to UNC Department of Public Safety.
RELATED: ALLEGED RAPE VICTIM: UNC'S TITLE IX OFFICE FAILED HER
They chanted "no more silence" and "no more violence" as they carried signs that read "home is not our hunting ground." Then they taped some of those signs in the windows of DPS when they arrived.
Organizers stress that while this event was timely, Robinson did not ask for it.
They say they want to call attention to issues for anyone who has ever reported being assaulted.
Typically, ABC11 does not name victims of sexual assault, however, Robinson has come out publicly.
