‘Her Shoes’ to raise awareness with men running in stilettos

Alpha Chi Omega is sponsoring a relay race in which all male participants will be running up and down North Jordan — in stilettos.

The event is the first “A Walk in Her Shoes” philanthropic event, with members of the sorority sponsoring the race to raise money and awareness for domestic violence.
The event, will be from noon to 4 p.m. and will feature music, food and more. The cost is $7  for a ticket, $10 for a T-shirt or $15 for both.

“It’s based actually off an international men’s march called ‘Walk a Mile in Her Shoes,’ which stems from the idea that you can’t really understand somebody until you’ve walked a mile in their shoes,” philanthropy chairwoman and junior Doni Tavel said.

Tavel said a relay race up North Jordan puts a college spin on the idea, which she hopes will attract more people.

The relay race begins at noon, but there will be festivities following on the front lawn of Alpha Chi Omega’s house. The women are also sponsoring a cookout with live music from the Pharos and entertainment from several dance teams.

Red Bull and Xbox will be advertising and giving away their products.

Tavel said more than 60 teams of four men each are registered. While the sorority members hope to have everyone registered by race day, they will still be accepting participants Saturday morning.

“Pretty much every girl in the house was able to find a group of four men to participate,” Tavel said. “Whether it’s high school friends, people from her floor freshman year, people she knows from the Marching Hundred, it’s pretty much whoever.”

All proceeds will benefit the Middle Way House, a domestic violence shelter
in Bloomington.

“Domestic violence, we felt, is an issue that’s pertinent to everybody,” Tavel said. “So our goal is to definitely get that outreach, use that networking to make sure that we’re not only asking for participation from our greek friends, but also including the freshmen, our friends in apartments, that sort of thing.”