Marshall students have the chance to participate in “Walk a Mile in Her Shoes” Thursday.

The event, which will begin at 5 p.m., is a men’s march to end sexual assault and gender violence. There will be an information fair before the walk from noon to 4:30 p.m. at the Memorial Student Center.

“The Women’s Center has done this event before in 2015 with the ROTC,” Rick Farlow, Interfraternity Council vice president of public relations, said.

This year, Farlow said the Interfraternity Council is working with the Women’s Center and CONTACT Huntington, a 24-hour rape crisis center.

Farlow said all profits from t-shirt sales and donations at the event will go to CONTACT.

“We thought it would be a really good idea and a really good move for fraternities to partner up for this cause, because in the past fraternities have not been seen in the best light, especially when it comes to sexual assault cases,” Farlow said.

Farlow said Marshall’s fraternity and Greek life has many dedicated men who are willing to walk a mile in high-heels for the cause.

“We’re going to have about 75 percent of chapter attendance there. So, roughly about 200 men I would say, maybe more,” Farlow said.

Farlow said two sororities, Alpha Z and Tri-Sigma, are confirmed to participate in the walk and other sororities may participate as well.

“We’re going to try to see how many guys we can get walking around in high-heels,” Farlow said. “It should be kind of interesting.”

Farlow said President Jerry Gilbert is confirmed to speak before the walk, along with Jan Rader, the first female fire chief at the Huntington Fire Department.

The walk will go around campus and MUPD sergeants will lead the way on bikes, Farlow said.

“The walk is a good way for men to be informed of women’s issues and work to become better allies,” Makayla Shaffer, sophomore biology and psychology double major, said.

“The Interfraternal Council is happy to be working with the Women’s Center and CONTACT,” Farlow said. “This is something fraternities have been yearning for a long time now, because there’s not a very good amount of PR going around as far as Greek life goes lately. We want to try to change that image of Greek life.”

The walk is sponsored by Marshall University’s Interfraternity Council, the Women’s Center, CONTACT Rape Crisis Center, MUPD and Student Affairs.

Alexia Lilly can be contacted at [email protected].