Brina, Kaitlin, Orchid

Kaitlin S. McGaw '00, Brina Milikowsky '00 and Jennifer L. "Orchid" Pusey '00

When a sexual assault took place on campus in 1998, these three women fought against apathy. At graduation, they leave behind a strong and thriving support network.

While most every student finds their niche at Harvard, few select causes that are both so controversial and so relevant to life on campus as Kaitlin S. McGaw '00, Brina Milikowsky '00 and Jennifer L. "Orchid" Pusey '00.

In the winter of 1998, when the Joshua M. Elster sexual assault case took Harvard by storm, the Coalition Against Sexual Violence was founded as an ad-hoc committee that could respond to and galvanize campus sentiment regarding the attack.

"We understood that this happens all the time," Milikowsky says. "But the campus had no mechanisms for response. We wanted to start some kind of dialogue and combat the silence of the system."

The first step that the group took was to write an open letter to The Crimson. Since then the Coalition has grown and become a permanent institution, advocating for various women's concerns on campus. They've organized rallies, spread the word about crisis centers for women and pushed for the granting of departmental status to women's studies.

With McGaw, Milikowsky and Pusey at the Coalition's helm, they have also helped draw greater attention to already-existing campus events. Last year's Take Back the Night rally--a vigil honoring victims of sexual assault and raising awareness about safety on campus--attracted more than 250 supporters.

Still, the three seniors are less enthusiastic about the University's responsiveness to their concerns. Over time, they say, Harvard has become more cooperative but they wish campus activists didn't have to bear the brunt of the cause.

Probably their greatest victory, though, is the substantial e-mail list the Coalition maintains, as well as the solid 15 to 20 member active network of the group. Next year, after graduation, a strong group of first-years and sophomores will take up the reins, continuing the struggle for women's issues at Harvard.