The Office for Victim Advocacy and Violence Prevention (OVAVP) will host the EmpoweRun 5K Color Run from 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday on the UTRGV Edinburg campus.
The run’s purpose is to create awareness about domestic violence and is free and open to UTRGV students, staff and community members. A free T-shirt will be provided to the first 100 people who register.
“Getting the community involved is what we want, mostly,” said Noe Leal Jr., a criminal justice graduate student and graduate assistant at the Office for Victim Advocacy and Violence Prevention. “You get to have a good time. If you want, you can volunteer to throw paint at each other. You will be exposed to a lot of different things out there. I just hope everyone has fun.”
Participants will be showered with colorful non-toxic paint as they make their way through the campus. The run begins and ends at the Troxel Hall lawn. The OVAVP is seeking volunteers to throw paint.
“I think it’s a good way to bring awareness about our office,” said Kayla Hernandez, an interdisciplinary studies graduate student and graduate assistant at OVAVP. “A lot of people don’t know that we exist and all of our events are free and open to the public, so it’s not only good for our students but it’s good for the community to know that we exist.”
Although UTRGV offers various types of help to students, many students and staff are still not aware of the kind of assistance that can be provided to them. The Office for Victim Advocacy and Violence Prevention strives for a campus free of violence and aids those who have been victims of any type of violence.
“We are a confidential resource,” said Cynthia Jones, director of OVAVP and a philosophy professor at UTRGV. “We can answer different questions about violence, victimization, anything that relates to violence. … We provide support groups. … We facilitate people and we help them find the resources they need.”
OVAVP offices are located in Learning Center 156 in Edinburg and North Office Building 106 in Brownsville.
Applications to register for the event will be open until Thursday.
For more information, email OVAVP@utrgv.edu.
