Students raise awareness for day without shoes

The concept of walking around campus for an entire day without shoes did not fully cross junior Emily Nicholls’ mind until a couple of days before.

“I think I didn’t realize how bad it’s going to be,” she said. “It’s really not very nice ground in some places.”

Nicholls, along with other members of the TOMS Shoes Club IU, are participating in Thursday’s all-day event “One Day Without Shoes.”

To raise awareness for the day, the club is holding a barefoot walk around campus at 6 p.m. Thursday beginning at the Sample Gates, said senior Erica Schori.

“I’m really not quite sure how many people will come,” she said. “We created a Facebook event, and we also have an event page on TOMS Web site. I’m hoping 30 people show up. I’m shooting low.”

Nicholls said one of the reasons behind the campus walk is so that if people feel uncomfortable walking barefoot by themselves, they can join others doing the same thing.

Set up by TOMS Shoes, the company uses its Web site to ask people to “go the day, part of the day or even just a few minutes barefoot to experience a life without shoes first-hand, and to help spread awareness of the impact a simple pair of shoes can bring to a child’s life.”

“I’ll be going all day,” Nicholls said. “I’ll put on shoes if someone tells me I have to. I know in Jordan (Hall) you have to have shoes on, but I’ll take them off again.”
Nicholls said she and a few others are painting their feet in hopes of getting people to question and ask them about the cause.

“I want the right amount of attention,” she said. “I don’t want it to look like a protest. But I think it’s definitely going to get a lot of people’s attention.”

Schori said she hopes the day will raise awareness for the club and the entire movement.

“Most people on campus have more than one pair of shoes,” she said. “We should be thankful for what we have and what we can do to help others.”