Tarana Burke, creator of the #MeToo movement that took social media by storm in late 2017, spoke at Penn State Thursday night as part of SPA’s Distinguished Speaker Series.

A large crowd of students flocked to Heritage Hall to hear Burke’s thoughts on the movement’s explosion and learn about its origins. The Bronx native spoke on the movement’s roots, the impact it has had on its participants, and several popular misconceptions surrounding her campaign, among other topics.

The #MeToo movement originated in the mid-2000s. Burke, a sexual assault victim herself, wanted to see her community respond to instances of sexual assault. She worked with children at schools through a nonprofit she created — Just Be Inc. — which provides support for middle and high school students and allows them to share their stories of sexual assault. It was one thing for Burke to hear these stories, but she wanted to go beyond that and empower victims of sexual assault and violence.

“Listening to 6th, 7th, and 8th graders talk about their experiences with sexual violence was gut-wrenching on another level,” Burke said. “And it’s not like they wanted to share this; they shared them as if they were normal, everyday experiences.”

Burke’s main motivation for speaking at places like Penn State is to clear up a variety of misconceptions surrounding the #MeToo movement. One misconception she addressed is how some view the #MeToo movement as a way to attack and destroy the reputations of prominent celebrities. While well-known Hollywood figures like Harvey Weinstein and Kevin Spacey have faced the consequences of their actions as part of the #MeToo movement, their side of the story is irrelevant to Burke. She emphasized that at the end of the day, the #MeToo movement’s primary focus is to help and support victims of sexual violence and raise awareness of a widespread and dangerous issue.

Another common complaint surrounding the #MeToo movement is that it only addresses white women who are victims of sexual assault. Burke said that this claim is completely false. She said that her main goal with the movement is and always was to help sexual assault victims of all backgrounds, races, ethnicities, and genders. Burke said she sees the movement as a “survivor’s movement” and not just as a women’s movement.

According to Burke, people also incorrectly think the #MeToo movement solely focuses on sexual harassment in the workplace. While this is a problem throughout the United States, Burke stressed that the movement works to help those who have been sexually assaulted in any and all situations.

“There is an entire spectrum of the #MeToo movement that is being missed,” she said. “Sexual harassment happens everywhere.”