About 100 students marched on LSU’s campus Monday in protest of the university’s handling of a former French graduate student accused of raping multiple women, fleeing to France and avoiding trial for the third degree rape of a former UL Lafayette student.

The “March in Action” was organized by student organizations Feminists in Action with Le Cercle Français, where students chanted and hoisted signs in anger.

Among the speakers included Le Cercle Français president Miranda Albarez, who recounted to the crowd her years of work in student organizations with the 31-year-old graduate student Edouard d’Espalungue d’Arros. She said she felt threatened by him, calling him a “manipulative monster” in an Instagram post earlier this month.

“That is the culture that LSU has created—a rape culture where predators are victimized and survivors are villainized,” Albarez, a music, French and digital art senior, said at the march.

Students demanded the university do a better job of prioritizing safety on campus following an Oct. 5 article by The Advocate detailing d’Espalungue’s alleged crimes.

The article recounts d’Espalungue’s prominent participation at the university as he awaited trial for the third degree rape of a woman after an arrest in 2018. The French graduate student participated in Student Government and started a French journal funded by the university. He was no longer allowed to teach freshman-level courses, but he stayed in touch with students.

LSU gave him little to no punishments until he was given a one-year suspension in 2020 for allegedly raping another student. Eventually a Rapides Parish judge granted him permission last year to return to France for Christmas—and he hasn’t returned since. Since his indictment, six women have accused d’Espalungue of rape.

Flyers distributed at the Parade Ground prior to the protestors’ march read “We want to feel #SafeNotSilenced.”

As the protest began in front of Memorial Tower at the Parade Ground, professor of history and women’s gender and sexuality studies Catherine Jacquet expressed her support for the students organizing the protest. She has participated in similar protests herself for decades, she said.

“It’s hard to be surprised because this has happened so often at LSU. We expect this but it’s still every time absolutely infuriating,” Jacquet said. “It makes my head want to explode.”

Protestors wielded a sea of colorful signs displaying messages like “protect survivors, not rapists” and “Blanchard knew, Russo knew,” referring to administrators in the French Department. When the marching started, students roared chants throughout the trek to Hodges Hall and turned the heads of bypassers.

“Hey hey, ho, ho, Dr. Russo has got to go,” protestors chanted. “Shame on you LSU, victims we believe you.”

French Department Chair Adelaide Russo was removed from her position Oct. 13 after six women filed a lawsuit accusing LSU of failing to conduct a proper investigation into d’Espalungue. Russo reportedly defended d’Espalungue on several occasions following his multiple rape accusations.

Students unaffiliated with the protest stopped dead in their tracks on their way to class to watch the stream of protestors as they chanted.

“Stop the violence. We want to be safe, not silent,” they repeated.

Kayla Meyers, political science and psychology senior and FIA secretary, came with a list of demands. Chief among these was to support and believe survivors.

“I was at the [Title IX] protest last year in 2020, and we are having these issues still,” Meyers said. “Nothing has really changed.”

Upon hearing of the protest, Civil Rights and Title IX Interim Vice President Jane Cassidy expressed her support for the protestors and their mission.

“This protest is a reminder of our accountability to the students and employees at LSU and provides yet another opportunity for us to reflect and improve upon past practices,” Cassidy said.

However, students still feel LSU has not lived up to its promise of a safer campus, even after the recent reorganization of the Title IX office.

Political science senior and FIA Planned Parenthood chair Isabel Sauviac wants more transparency on top of student outreach from the LSU Title IX office.

“They should actually listen to their students,” Sauviac said. “They re-did Title IX, sure, but they didn’t talk to anyone. I feel like they should actually talk to the students and see what we want because it’s about us.”

International trade finance sophomore and political director of LSU College Democrats Cooper Ferguson not only believes the Title IX office isn’t properly funded but that it hasn’t accomplished its promise of hiring 18 new Title IX investigators.

“They’re more concerned about protecting their pocketbooks than actually protecting LSU students,” Ferguson said.

Even though President William Tate IV has only served at LSU for three months, Ferguson was furious at his response to the allegations against d’Espalungue.

He said the president attempted to abdicate himself in an email sent to the LSU community by saying he was not serving when the allegations occurred. Ferguson believes Tate and the Title IX office are directly responsible for the continued sexual assaults on campus.

“[LSU’s Title IX office] needs to hire more staff, and they need to be serious about addressing allegations against the university, not just covering their asses,” Ferguson said.

Social work senior and FIA vice president Gabriella Turner repeatedly announced her irritation for having to protest something that should not be happening in the first place.

“When we make our voices heard, that’s when we get change done,” Turner said.

Upon reaching Hodges Hall, the final destination of the march, the floor was opened up to protesters who wanted to share their thoughts and feelings.

Emotional students echoed Ferguson’s frustrations that LSU has not done enough. One speaker directly addressed Tate, saying his efforts of creating advocacy groups is not enough.

“None of that matters if you don’t do the hard work of actually enacting the legislation that is there to protect us,” one protestor said.

Student after student came up to the microphone and announced their experiences with sexual assault as busses whizzed by on the street and protestors freed space on the sidewalk for people walking past.

Campus continued its daily routine as students recounted their stories of sexual assault in front of the crowd of protestors.

“I came here to learn,” one protestor said. “I did not come here to be retraumatized continuously. All I wanted to do was practice French, and instead, I had another run-in with a rapist.”

The microphone waited to be held by a line of survivors wishing to tell their experience. It shook in the hands of passionate speakers and reverberated the vehement fervor of students sick of silence.

“LSU, you need to look in the mirror, find the problems and fix them. We are done asking,” Albarez said. “Changes start now.”