Click here to view the Take Back The Night 2008 Slideshow.

More than 500 people marched through campus Thursday night.

“It makes me more aware of what women are exposed to,” said Shannon Cronin, a junior biology major, of the march.

Cronin and other students participated in Take Back the Night, an event aimed at raising awareness about violence against women.

Students and faculty met at the Campus Pond Pavilion at 6:30 p.m. and marched until 8 p.m.

Cronin said she came to the event because she believed it was for a good cause.

She said that she knew someone who had been victimized by violence.

Another student who attended the march, senior Dominique Sims, said she was there in order to help support the basketball team members that attended, as well as the event itself.

“I’m here to give my support and to be loud,” said Sims, a mathematics major. “I’m going to do whatever I can do to support Take Back the Night.”

After marching through the campus, the students and faculty members who attended rounded up again at the Campus Pond Pavilion.

Suzanne Enck-Wanzer, a member of the Sexual Assault Counseling and Information Services and one of the coordinators of the event, said there were about 500 people who marched last year.

“I think that a lot of people come to this event not knowing why they are here,” Enck-Wanzer said. “But in the end, I think most everyone gets something out of it.”

She said next year, for the 20th annual march, there may be more sponsors and the march may get bigger.

Amber VanAtta, a graduate student in the counseling program, said that this was her second time attending Take Back the Night.

“This event helps empower anyone who has been sexually abused to take a stand,” VanAtta said.

She said she knows someone who has been abused and added it helps her empathize with everyone who has or who is going through some form of violence.

After the march, there was a vigil and a speak-out.

Some people shared personal experiences and let people know how different counseling centers helped them make it through.

Melissa Sturtevant can be reached at 581-7942 or at dennewsdesk@gmail.com.

Students stand with their candles as the “Take Back The Night” march begins near the Campus Pond Pavilion on Thursday night. (Robbie Wroblewski / The Daily Eastern News)

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