Stephanie Tanny, Denver native, on her speech at the Campus Progress National Conference

Campus Progress

The speech "went really well," says the 2010 Colorado State University graduate. "I messed up a little bit, but I don't think anyone noticed, because I knew what I was talking about."

Tanny discussed the intersection between race, gender and sexual violence through her personal experience with sexual assault in her speech, televised by C-SPAN. After she spoke, many other sexual assault survivors approached her at the conference and told her how inspiring it was to hear another survivor speak. She's taking this as a sign of a job well done.

Because Tanny isn't returning to Denver until Monday, she's been able to attend panels hosted by Campus Progress and interact with notables like Cecile Richards, president of Planned Parenthood, and Jose Antonio Vargas, the Pulitzer-winning journalist who recently outed himself as an undocumented immigrant. For her, "being able to meet other people who have different ideas and interests, but who still really care about moving forward," whether they're famous or not, haws been the best aspect of the conference.

Next on the itinerary? The Dalai Lama is slated to make a public appearance in D.C. on Saturday and Tanny is hoping to attend.

See Tanny speak at the conference via c-spanvideo.org. Start at minute two.

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