Committed Change-Maker John Gabrieli ’12 Delivers Wyner Lecture On April 11, Roxbury Latin welcomed alumnus John Gabrieli, Class of 2012, as the year’s Wyner Lecturer—a series featuring individuals committed to solving big problems for social good.
thing to know the statistics on sexual assault, and it’s another thing to find out that it has happened to a friend, family member, or loved one.
Until recently, John served as co-chair of the Every Voice Coalition—a grassroots movement to combat sexual violence on college campuses and support survivors—which he founded and which he now serves as board chair. Since 2016, the Every Voice Coalition has brought together students and survivors, community organizations, and universities to combat campus sexual violence by passing student and survivor-written legislation on the state-level. The organization is currently active in 12 states with five bills already passed into law.
“Most people I know who have been impacted by sexual violence have never reported. The few who did choose to report often faced drawn-out, sometimes years-long legal struggles that were often re-traumatizing but rarely resulted in any kind of justice. For me, there was a sense of powerlessness that came from seeing people I cared about being impacted, and not feeling like I could do anything about it… I knew that the vast majority of perpetrators would never be held to account, and that the cycle would continue to repeat itself, year after year. Because while you may have heard the statistics—1 in 5 women, and 1 in 16 men will be impacted by sexual assault on college campuses—what you might not know is that these rates have held largely constant now for almost 50 years, as far back as we have data. Widespread sexual violence had seemingly become the norm on our college campuses; as students, we weren’t willing to accept that.” He and seven other college students got together, in the basement of a friend’s home, and got to work.
“My work on Every Voice began when I was a college student myself, almost eight years ago now,” John began in Rousmaniere Hall. “Coming into college, I had seen the headlines, and I had read the statistics: According to the U.S. Department of Justice, one in ten college students will experience rape or sexual assault before graduation. It’s one
38
Spring 2022
