Katie Koestner, a date rape victim and educational speaker, spoke Thursday in the Student Center ballroom about her emotional ordeal.

Koestner’s story started back in her third week of college in a small town in Virginia.

She met a guy hanging out in her residence hall lounge; they shared small talk and hit it off from that moment. The guy took her out to a fancy French restaurant, and then they went back to her room.

“I bought glow-in-the-dark stars, and we danced to my favorite mix under the Big Dipper,” she said.

The next thing she knew, he was telling her, “You have to have sex with me.”

After the night was over, Koestner told her story to her resident assistant and then the police the next day.

The rapist was banned from her residence hall, and the dean told them they would make a cute couple.

Koestner made it her mission to warn other women against the potential of date rape.

“Make Kent State a community of trust,” Koestner said. “Make it your business; change someone’s life. Do not wait until someone is crying on your shoulder to get angry.“

While Koestner was speaking, she provided detailed warning signs that she had not noticed at the time of her date rape.

“We all miss the fine print in life when we are distracted,” she said.

Koestner said one in four women are sexually assaulted, and one in eight men are raped.

Erin Carlson, sophomore psychology major, said Koestner’s information about date rape made her think more critically.

“Listening to her speak made me think about the warning signs,” Carlson said. “You don’t hear many stories about (date) rape,” she said.

Contact Haley Phillippi [email protected].