About 500 tickets are still available to see activist Tarana Burke, founder of the #MeToo movement, speak at the Michigan State University's Wharton Center on Thursday.
The university confirmed Tuesday that free tickets for the event will continue to be available on a first come, first served basis at the Wharton Center Box Office until the venue's 2,200-capacity seats are sold out. The address is 750 E. Shaw Lane, East Lansing.
Tickets are not available online, but can be reserved by phone by calling 517-432-2000, with a $7 phone-order fee. The limit is 2 tickets per person. Burke's speech also will be livestreamed at http://go.cal.msu.edu/metoo.
Burke, who created the #MeToo movement in 2006 to bring awareness and empathy to sexual abuse and assault survivors, is senior director at Girls for Gender Equity, a New York-based nonprofit that works to end gender-based violence.
Rose McGowan, left, waves after being introduced by Tarana Burke, right, founder, #MeToo Campaign. McGowan recently went public with her allegation that film company co-founder Harvey Weinstein raped her. (Photo: Paul Sancya/AP)
She was named among "The Silence Breakers" as Time magazine's 2017 Person of the Year. #MeToo took off on social media in 2017, and encouraged millions of people around the world to share their stories of sexual assault, abuse and harassment.
Her appearance comes as the university works to rebuild its reputation following the sexual abuse scandal involving Larry Nassar, the once-acclaimed Michigan State University sports medicine doctor who traveled the world with the U.S. Olympic team and deceived athletes over more than two decades, manipulating them into believing sexual assault was medical care.
Larry Nassar appears in court on to listen to victim-impact statements prior to being sentenced on January 16, 2018 in Lansing. (Photo: Scott Olson, Getty Images)
MSU also is under fire for how it responded to a federal lawsuit brought last week by a student who claims three members of the university's basketball team raped her. She alleges the MSU Counseling Center implied it would not be in her "best interest to report the incident to law enforcement."
Hers is the third allegation of multiple MSU basketball players raping a woman since 2010. Only one of those incidents were reported to police.
In addition, the federal Office for Civil Rights found in 2015 that the university's handling of some Title IX cases fostered a "hostile environment" for people who complained about sexual misconduct or relationship violence.
“Hearing from Ms. Burke during this time of needed culture change on our campus community is important,” MSU Interim President John Engler said in a news release. “We look forward to her presentation, and I am confident there are things she will share that we can all learn from, given her advocacy work.”
Tarana Burke speaks during The Women's Convention at Cobo Center in downtown Detroit, Friday, October 27, 2017. (Photo: Junfu Han, Detroit Free Press)
Burke is to speak at 7:30 p.m. in the Wharton Center’s Cobb Great Hall as part of the Transformative Justice Speaker Series.
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She is expected to talk about how the #MeToo movement began and about the pervasive problem of rape culture in America with the goal of inspiring and motivating those who are affected by sexual violence — directly or indirectly, Xhercis Méndez, assistant professor in the Department of Philosophy and the African American and African Studies Program, said in a news release.
Contact Kristen Jordan Shamus: 313-222-5997 or kshamus@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @kristenshamus.