"Larry Nassar! Larry Nassar! Larry Nassar!" a Texas Tech University fan shouted in response to Michigan State University students' cheers of "Go, Green! Go, White!"
Kate Mahon's stomach lurched.
She and her sister were in a crowd of people near the concession stand at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis for the NCAA Final Four men's basketball tournament. The Texas Tech fan was walking in one direction; the Mahon sisters walked the opposite way.
"I just put my arm around my sister, and I was like, 'OK. I'm going to keep on walking, That guy is a piece of ... well, you can fill in the appropriate word,' " said Mahon, 28, a Haslett, Mich., native who now lives in Chicago. "I looked at my sister, and ... she was like, 'I almost just punched him in the face,' and then she started crying.
"She's my younger sister, so I feel horrible because I'm supposed to protect her. And she's been there for me a lot over the past couple years. ... She started crying, and she was like, 'I can't believe he just said that.' "
Hearing Nassar's name used by a heckler like a verbal weapon at a sporting event was difficult for Mahon, who is among the hundreds of girls and young women who were sexually abused for years by the former MSU sports medicine doctor.
"In a competitive environment, essentially, it's a fight," she said. "So ... you bring up things you know are going to hurt ... so you can win, you know? And in this environment, it's wanting to win not only the game, but win any arguments, win with banter, and not knowing when to draw the line.
"There's lines you should know you cannot cross; you cannot go there. Sexual assault and rape should be in that category, and it's upsetting that it's not in that category."
The last two years, which saw Nassar's conviction on child pornography and sexual assault charges as well as the rise of the #MeToo movement, have given Mahon new voice _ one she's not afraid to use to speak out against sexual violence.
She wants to be sure people realize how hurtful that kind of heckling at a sports event can be, and to urge others to speak up when they see or hear someone behaving that way.
"I am sure it's not the first time an opposing team's student has said something like that, nor will it be the last time," Mahon said. " ... But how do we bring understanding and empathy to sexual assault survivors so it doesn't happen again?"
She wonders whether the student who shouted Nassar's name realizes that 1 in 3 women and 1 in 6 men in the United States will experience some form of sexual violence in their lifetimes, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
"Is it just that they feel like they are so removed from the situation, they can't understand how upsetting that would be?" she asked. "Like if his sister was a sexual assault survivor, I don't think he'd be yelling that at the game.
"They're just so far removed, they don't think they know anyone who has been through that. There's a 1 in 3 chance that his mom has been assaulted, that his sister has been assaulted. And if he knew that, would he be making jokes about it? Probably not."
Mahon wished that someone in the crowd would have stopped him, not only for her benefit, but to help any other sexual abuse survivors who might have been within earshot, and were similarly hurt.
"We need to give the power to the average person to speak up and stop that from happening," Mahon said.
