The Scary Feminists club at EWU got its name in 2005 because its founders realized feminism can be scary to some and that it possesses an intimidating reputation.

Despite that, the club aims to raise awareness that feminism is for everyone by addressing all kinds of social issues throughout the year with events. The club’s most recent event was the Believe Survivors Rally.

On Oct. 12 the members of the club, referred to as the “scaries,” gathered around a table in the campus mall to engage with students and show support for survivors of sexual assault, violence and rape.

According to the club president, EWU senior Kelli Beseler, the rally had mostly positive responses with about 30-40 people showing up to the club’s table at the event and participating with the scaries during the rally. People participated by writing comments on why they believe survivors including, “You’re so valid. You’re so brave” and “It’s not your fault, we are all born sinners” for a poster that stated, “I Support Survivors.”

As many as 15 students held signs provided by the club related to sexual assault, violence and rape.

Some signs read as, “25% of college women and 15% of college men are victims of forced sex” and “What steps do you take to prevent yourself from being sexually assaulted?”

“I know some people thought it was about protesting supreme court decisions, but it was not,” Beseler said. “It was […] our way of helping our campus community become a safe space for survivors.”

Once a week, the club hosts a meeting to address social issues beyond sexism like racism or homophobia. The club doesn’t discriminate against any gender, race or sexual orientation. EWU junior and new member of the club, Jennifer Contreras, would say the club is intersectional in this way.

“I think it’s really important to have this kind of space for these kind of discussions because I think a lot of people would feel uncomfortable or unsafe talking about these kind of issues,” club vice president and EWU senior, Makenzie Ley said. “I think that’s really rare and kind of special that we can have this kind of space and community.”

Some scaries like Contreras joined the club because “I’m a feminist and I wanted to be around more feminists,” but as the club focuses on maximum outreach to all kinds of students, other new members joined to be apart of something more.

“I joined because I’ve never been apart of a group like this before and I really wanted to experience what it was like,” new member and freshmen Cynthia Tijerina said. “So far I’m really liking it a lot.”

The club meets every Friday in Monroe 207 from 1-2 p.m. For more information on the club, visit its Facebook page at EWU Scary Feminists. To keep up with the club’s events, visit it’s Instagram handle, @ewuscaryfeminists.