Brockport students walk to raise awareness

Bright red heels in men’s sizes — not women’s — graced the Brockport campus as the college hosted Walk a Mile In Her Shoes, an international effort to end rape, sexual assault and gender violence.

Students, faculty and staff participated in the annual event.

“It’s a good program to support,” said Don Bigelow, coordinator of the student townhomes. “It’s run through another college office so we always try to team up and support each other.”

Other particpants agreed with Bigelow that supporting the event was a good way to spread awareness.

“We are leading by example,” said Ali Gonzalez Torres, the resident director of Mortimer Hall. “We gotta put the message out there. So if we want all these people to participate, we gotta do it ourselves.”

This year’s event was organized by the Women’s Center and Health and Prevention Outreach Services.

The two have recently joined forces under the direction of Joshua Fegley, assistant director of Health and Prevention Services.

According to the website, the Women’s Center strives to advocate for change in order to create and maintain a climate that enhances the quality of life for all members of the college community.

The mission statement also  says the Center works to draw awareness to procedures and practices that impact women.

The Women’s Center works in partnership with other college offices and departments to address the needs of all women at the College.

Members of the Center communicate with college offices and departments to bring attention to policies that affect women. They work with all members of the campus and community to connect people and address the needs of women.

According to the mission statement, the Center encourages student leadership and hopes to empower both women and men and create opportunities to learn more about gender issues and feminist theory.

Christi Waldron, Counselor for the Rape Crisis Service of Planned Parenthood, attended the Brockport event.

Waldron represents the Brockport and Orleans County areas and is available to meet with on Fridays in the Counseling Center.

Waldron said she’d like to connect with the sororities and fraternities on-campus to set up seminars providing information on the services they provide and safe dating.

This year’s event comes as the community mourns the loss of freshman Alexandra Kogut. It was in the middle of Select Respect Week, a week of activities planned to celebrate National Domestic Violence Awareness Month.