Discussion List for campus-based and allied personnel working to end gender-based violence on campus.

["Seymour, Forrest" <>]

Hi All-
We have just completed our third annual Walk A Mile (WAM) here at a 5000 
student state college in a 25,000 population city.  The material we got from 
the WAM folks the first year alerted us to concerns about transphobia and 
WAM, and I certainly think the wearing of women's shoes has been worth some 
giggles to many of the men involved (and the women around them), but I think 
if we cannot handle some of that we will never be able to engage with large 
sectors of our students.   
Our version of WAM is cosponsored by the college and our local rape crisis 
organization, the Monadnock Center for Violence Prevention (MCVP).  The route 
takes walkers from campus into town, so it is a real town-gown event.  MCVP 
does a lot of the organizing in the community and staffing of the event at 
the end, while we do the organizing on campus and the kick-off event.  
Our first year it was just an educational event.  The last two years it has 
served as a fundraiser for MCVP.  We use firstgiving.com to both register 
walkers and facilitate fundraising.  It uses social networking to increase 
donation rates, which works well for students.  This year we had around 300 
walkers and raised about $16,000.  There was a lot of energy on campus; this 
event is coming to be seen as a signature event for the school.  The Greek 
community has latched onto it and was a big part of the turnout this year.
>From a prevention perspective, what I like about WAM is that it serves as an 
>entry for many men to do something (anything) about violence against women.  
>We had athletes signing up walkers in advance of the walk in the gym, and 
>Greeks signing up walkers in the student center.  On the day of the walk 
>there were many opportunities for volunteers to help out.  Some profs offer 
>credit for volunteering.  
WAM gives us many opportunities to immerse young men in messages they might 
not otherwise hear.  We have speakers at the beginning and the end, local 
politicians, campus figures, etc. This year we had our Assistant Director of 
Athletics as honorary co-chair.  He allowed his name and image to be used in 
publicity, and challenged many of his colleagues and friends to walk and 
raise funds for MCVP.  So we now have a much stronger connection with 
Athletics than we did before.
A few details: This year we gave t-shirts only to volunteers and walkers who 
raised $100 or more (others could buy them for $10).  We also had a raffle 
with prizes donated by local merchants (you get one ticket for each $100 you 
raise).  MCVP uses this event as an opportunity to publically acknowledge 
many of their volunteers and donors.  We are pretty lax about the shoes part 
of things.  We don't emphasize the high heels, though many men do wear them.  
I wear fuzzy slippers.  One guy wears army boots because women wear these, 
too.  We have a stock of second-hand shoes available on the day of the event, 
but a lot of men bring their own.  This year we had a award for the best 
shoes based on audience approval.
Overall it is a great, collaborative, entry level event, IMHO. I'd be happy 
to go into more detail if anyone wished to contact me, or I can put you in 
touch with folks at MCVP for their perspective.
----------------------------------------
Forrest Seymour, LICSW
Counselor, KSC Counseling Center
Coordinator, Sexual Violence Prevention & Education Program
Co-Advisor, Mentors in Violence Prevention
Keene State College
229 Main Street
Keene, NH   03435
603-358-2047
603-358-2985 (fax)
http://www.keene.edu/counseling

"Creating a World of Possibilities."
------------------------------------------
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Subject: SAPC Digest, Vol 1186, Issue 1

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Today's Topics:

   1. Walk a Mile in Her Shoes (Coleen Harrington Barry - Counseling)


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Message: 1
Date: Sun, 26 Apr 2009 13:09:23 -0400
From: "Coleen Harrington Barry - Counseling"
        
<>
Subject: Walk a Mile in Her Shoes
To: 
<>
Message-ID:
        
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Content-Type: text/plain;       charset="iso-8859-1"

I was in charge of organizing the first 'Walk a Mile in Her Shoes' event on 
the Franklin Pierce University Campus this year and would be glad to share 
what I learned. Feel free to email me with specific questions.

-Coleen

Coleen Harrington Barry, Ph.D., LCMHC
Coordinator of Women's Crisis Center & Therapist
Outreach Education Center
Franklin Pierce University
40 University Dr. 
Rindge, NH 03461

(603)899-4133 (front desk)
(603)899-4135 (voicemail)



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