Students gather in the courtyard inside of Rankin Science Building and raise flashlights above their heads Tuesday night during the conclusion of Walk for Awareness. Photo by Holt Menzies

by MARY ELIZABETH ROBERTSON
Lifestyles Reporter
by MEGAN NORTHCOTE
Intern Lifestyles Reporter

The thick September air surrounds you as you look around at your friends.

Many look somber, deep in thought, and clutch small flashlights as they begin to take the first step during Walk for Awareness.

The walk first began 20 years ago after the same man raped two Appalachian State University students, Jeni Gray and Leigh Cooper Wallace.

Gray was raped and murdered.

Wallace was raped and survived.

“It was a time when we were all grieving,” Barbara Daye, Dean of Students Emeritus said. “We knew we would never see [Gray] again. We had a memorial service in Farthing [Auditorium]. I think that was helpful.”

A panel discussion was held to decide what could be done in remembrance of the two women and, in turn, the first Walk for Awareness event was established in 1990.

“We had to do something—make people care,” Daye said. “Make our ‘safe bubble’ burst.”

Though some students do not remain silent during the walk, Daye believes there is power in silence.

“If you’re standing still and composed, that was power,” she said. “There is a place for expressing yourself, but it’s not here.”
Tuesday evening, students gathered in the Blue Ridge Ballroom of the Plemmons Student Union to watch “Why Walk? – A

Survivor’s Story,” a documentary of Wallace’s attack and survival. Following the video screening, students gathered on Sanford Mall to participate in the Walk, which ended at the courtyard beside Edwin Duncan Hall.

During the walk, flashlights and candles are typically held to symbolize remembrance and how everyone has the power to make a difference.

“No amount of darkness can snuff out the light of a small candle,” Daye said.

Photo by Holt Menzies

After the walk, the Appalachian State University Gospel Choir sang songs to encourage those who listened to find strength to speak out and move on if sexual assault should occur.

“We’re going to keep on walking forward, never turning back, never turning back,” the gospel choir sang. 
Leigh Cooper Wallace was the keynote speaker at Tuesday’s event.

Prior to the Walk, Chancellor Kenneth E. Peacock introduced Wallace before attendees gathered on Sanford Mall. 
“Leigh is a survivor, runner, coach, teacher, wife, mother and to all of us here at Appalachian, a hero,” Peacock said.

Wallace currently teaches a class at Appalachian’s Student Wellness Center along with a health education class, and is also a student counselor.

“Because I survived, I don’t let it kill me,” she said. “I want to live, I was always able to survive…I am wasting that opportunity being scared or depressed, being a victim.”

The last time Wallace came to speak was 10 years after the first walk took place.

“[The Walk] focuses on all victims, not just of rape, people victimized in other ways,” Wallace said. “There are so many ways to be victimized…I was a rape victim and today I am a survivor, and you have to focus on the positive of that.”  

Wallace encourages students to take action and seek help if they or someone they knew becomes a victim of sexual assault.

“As a woman in this country, I am entitled to run when I want to run,” she said. “We are entitled to do those things. At the same time, there has got to be some awareness. The perfect victim is someone who does not have that awareness.”

Several attending students commented on the Walk.

“I wanted to come out and support this [event],” Ryan T. MacGregor, senior psychology major, said. “It was scary and neat to hear first-hand from someone who’s gone through [sexual assault].”

Samantha N. Hudson, sophomore English major, had a friend who was sexually assaulted and raped.

“It was great to see how many people came together,” she said.

Wallace hopes Walk for Awareness will strengthen her and give her hope.

“I am not going to stop living because of this,” she said. “I don’t deny that this happened to me, and it’s part of my history. I’ve tried to make sense of it and how it fits in my whole life. It happened to make me stronger…[the attacker] ruined my night, but not the rest of my life.

Photos by Holt Menzies  |  Chief Photographer

TrackBack URI for this entry

Comments (0)

Show/Hide comments