Dress Down to Raise Awareness
The year 2006 marked the first annual Dress Down to Raise Awareness Day sponsored by RESPECT in conjunction with the Take Back the Night March. This day serves as a way to encourage individuals to help raise awareness by wearing jeans (or khakis) and a Take Back the Night t-shirt to work on the day of the Take Back the Night March.
Numerous campus departments and some community businesses participated with the first annual Dress Down to Raise Awareness Day. Campus departments included the Library, University Housing, Career Development, Students Disability Office, Pat Walker Health Center, Division of Student Affairs Vice Chancellor’s Office, Campus ID Office, Arkansas Union Administration, and other members of various campus departments. Among the community businesses were Coldwell-Banker Faucett Real Estate, The Breast Center, NWA Rape Crisis, The Surgery Center, and Masons Retail Stores.
Each year, RESPECT continued to sponsor the Dress Down to Raise Awareness Day. This has been a great way to make a “fashionable statement” against sexual violence and violence against women. Unfortunately, with the COVID pandemic and related social distancing restrictions, the event has ceased in 2020 until further notice.