Several dozen students, staff and faculty members at the Penn State, Lehigh Valley Center Valley campus took a stand April 7 to raise awareness of gender issues and sexual violence.

The event featured male students and faculty stepping out in red high heels to "Walk a mile in her shoes" to provide a better appreciation of the problem of sexual violence, particularly toward women, in the school's first-ever high-heeled walk by males around campus.

Many got into the spirit of the occasion to provide light-hearted images in the gender reversal event.

One faculty member, Jim Tubman, an adjunct business instructor from Flemington, N.J., navigated the event with difficulty, using ski poles to keep him from falling. Tubman said the gesture, which earned him the "most-original" costume award, was more than just window-dressing. "I could not even walk in these high heels without the poles," he said.

"Walk a mile in her shoes" is a copyrighted international event by men to help raise awareness of, and stop rape, sexual violence and gender violence.

Created in 2001 by Frank Baird, the event provides "a lighthearted opportunity for men to come together and peacefully protest against rape and sexual violence" Dennille Schuler a member of the Penn State Lehigh Valley University Relations Office, said.

Emily Rieser, outreach director for the Crime Victims Council of the Lehigh Valley, asked participants to take to heart the issues behind the event. She also encouraged victims of sexual violence to take advantage of free and confidential counseling available through the council.