A procession of fraternity brothers in oversized women’s high heels walked down Memorial Way at 4:30 p.m. yesterday as part of a joint effort to raise awareness against domestic violence.

Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraterntiy and Alpha Chi Omega sorority collaborated in putting on the mile-long march, the first of its kind at the UW, which included purchasing enough shoes from the Goodwill on the Ave to slip on the 195 guys and 35 girls who participated in the event.

“I was taking women’s studies last year and did the event in Tacoma,” said Lawrence Dearth, UW senior and president of Sigma Alpha Epsilon. “I thought it would be great for the Greek system and ended up teaming up with Alpha Chi Omega and planning for the fall.”

The walk took about half an hour, and after walking along Northeast 45th Street and through Greek Row, the marchers congregated in the Quad, led by members of Sigma Alpha Epsilon. The members carried a white banner with red letters that read, “Walk a Mile in her Shoes.”

Along with a presence of 16 fraternities and any other members of the UW community who wished to sign up, Alpha Chi Omega brought representatives from the Eastside Domestic Violence Program (EDVP), a local organization whose primary mission is to end domestic violence. The sorority has been working with EDVP for some time.

Denise Bennett, the youth services manager for EDVP, delivered a pep talk at the end of the walk that highlighted the different types of domestic violence, telling men they too can be victims, sharing stories, and explaining what individuals can do to help.

“We find this has more of an affect on people than physical violence because physical bruises and everything go away,” she said. “But psychological abuse sticks with you.”

During her speech, Bennett cited statistics to corroborate the need to bring awareness to domestic violence. About 1.3 million women and 835,000 men are physically assaulted by an intimate partner annually in the United States, she said.

For UW sophomore Tyler Leitch of Kappa Alpha, who made the walk in four-inch leather boots from Goodwill, taking part hit closer to home as he had a friend in high school that was abused by her father.

“This is really special to me; I really enjoyed being able to demonstrate against this,” he said.

Of the march Leitch said: “It was agonizing. I don’t understand how girls can do this every weekend.”

Stuffing men’s feet in women’s high heels is about as difficult as it sounds. Nick Feldman, UW junior and Intra Fraternity Council vice president for public relations, said that finding size-14 heels was a difficult task. As a result, fraternity brothers improvised, cutting two-by-fours and using blue duct tape to create their own stylish pumps.

Alpha Chi Omega president Michelle Kaufman’s future goal is to open the event up to the greater Seattle area and increase the support base.

“All the guys showing their support really shows that the UW community thinks this is a serious issue,” she said, “And [that] we’re really trying to go out of our way to make sure domestic violence doesn’t happen.”

Reach contributing writer Breanna Lai at news@dailyuw.com.