Show of solidarity at Stanford for Chanel Miller's memoir

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ByChris Nguyen KGO logo
Wednesday, September 25, 2019
Show of solidarity at Stanford for Chanel Miller's memoir
As Chanel Miller's memoir, Know My Name, became available Tuesday morning, students at Stanford gathered in front of the university bookstore to show their support in various ways.

PALO ALTO, Calif. (KGO) -- As Chanel Miller's memoir, Know My Name, became available Tuesday morning, students at Stanford gathered in front of the university bookstore to show their support in various ways.

"Up until now, with her identity not being released, it's been a lot of talking about her, without really knowing the full story of what happened, beyond her impact statement," said Shanta Katipamula, a Stanford student leader who helped organize the gathering.

RELATED: Chanel Miller speaks out about Brock Turner sexual assault on '60 Minutes'

In a recent interview with 60 Minutes, Miller revealed herself as the survivor in the 2015 sexual assault case involving former Stanford student Brock Turner.

"If you drink to excess you deserve a hangover. A really bad hangover. But you don't deserve to have somebody insert their body parts inside you," said Miller.

Miller's victim impact statement captivated many across the world before the height of the #MeToo movement.

"I think it's important that what happened here is not forgotten and that future generations of students who have never heard of Brock Turner, will understand that this atrocity was committed here on our campus," said Stanford Law School professor Michele Dauber.

The university has since replaced the site of the crime with an unmarked garden.

Stanford originally agreed to use a quote from Miller's statement on a plaque, but officials rejected her suggestions for which quote to use, saying it could be triggering for other sexual assault survivors. As a result, she decided to withdraw from the project.

"I'm still so disappointed by the way Stanford over the last four-and-a-half years has treated Chanel Miller, and honestly treated all survivors of sexual assault and relationship abuse," said Stanford student Kimiko Hirota.

This summer, a group of students developed an augmented reality experience called Dear Visitor, centering Miller's voice in the space as it was originally intended.

RELATED: Judge who sentenced Brock Turner no longer tennis coach at Bay Area high school

The new app, created by Khoi Le, Hope Schroeder, and Kyle Qian, aims to reshape the way in which we remember history in public spaces. It will officially debut on Friday.

"It was important to us that people saw this as a way to move forward in a positive direction and re-open the conversation about how this space can be better improved in a physical sense, while also seeing what our project fills as a gap in this space," said Schroeder.

Facing up to 14 years in prison, Turner was convicted of three felony sexual assault charges. He was sentenced to six months, but only served half of that time. Trial judge Aaron Persky later became the first California judge to be recalled in more than eighty years.

"Because it's the university we go to, we all want to feel safe and able to go about our business without fear of such things happening to us," said Stanford student Noah DeWald.