Female Students and community members alike often feel anxious walking around the Stanford campus late at night. Tonight’s annual Take Back the Night march aims to combat this fear by inviting the community to “reclaim our rights to be safe,” according to March Coordinator Stephanie Nguyen, a senior.

“Take Back the Night is an annual march held across the country and internationally in protest to violence against women, particularly at night,” Nguyen said.

The first Take Back the Night march in the United States was held in San Francisco in 1978. Stanford has participated for the past 15 years.

The event will commence at 8:30 p.m. An opening ceremony at White Plaza will feature a performance by Talisman as well as community speakers such as Joanne Sanders from the Office for Religious Life, Sally Baird from Vaden Health Promotion Services’ Sexual Assault Prevention Program and representatives from the YWCA Sexual Assault Center at Stanford.

Participants will then march through White Plaza, down the Row, and around Lake Lagunita.

“[The lake is] one place I definitely would avoid if I were walking on my own,” said Mary Amon, a sophomore who participated in last year’s march. “To me, this march symbolizes our group’s ability not to be afraid of anything or anyone, no matter how dark or menacing the situation would be to an individual.”

The route, determined by students on the Take Back the Night planning committee, will end at Memorial Church, where a reception will be held until 10:30 p.m.

Coordinators have been planning the march since the end of winter quarter.

The event was organized by Vaden Health Promotion Services, but the Take Back the Night planning committee represents a variety of student groups, including the peer health educators (PHEs), the Interfraternity Council (IFC), the Intersorority Council (ISC), the Sigma Psi Zeta sorority and the Women’s Center.

Student Services Specialist Kate Bedford spoke about the PHEs’ role in helping to organize and publicize the event.

“PHEs as a group are very committed to ending sexual assault,” she said.

IFC Community Service Chairs John Lee and Josh Zloof have encouraged all fraternities on campus to participate. Lee noted that “many of the fraternities are expecting a large turnout from their members.”

According to Nguyen, 50 to 200 students and staff have participated each year at Stanford.

“We are hoping for a similar turnout this year,” she said.

“This night offers the exciting opportunity to take a stand against this violence and be a part of a community of individuals who share this desire to end violence against women,” Nguyen added.

Amon encouraged other students to join the march.

“It reaches out to anyone who has ever felt uneasy about walking by themselves at night,” she said. “It lets them know that there are other people who feel the same way and, for once, won’t let them walk alone.”

Nguyen, who has participated in past years, called the event “extremely powerful” and “empowering.”

Amon said she shared this feeling of empowerment while participating last year.

“We all reflect that the night is an opportunity for bad things to happen,” she said. “But on this night, we don’t let that happen.”

“Stanford is lucky because we have a community that is committed to ending violence against women,” Bedford said. “This is a chance for that community to show its strength.”