Starting at Holy Cross Hall on April 16 from 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m., the annual Smick Walk was hosted by the Feminists United (FEMU) club and the Student Diversity Board (SDB). According to a previous email from SDB, this walk was meant to be “a meaningful way for us to unite against SMICK hate and show our support for one another.”
Originally, attendees would be walking from the residence hall to the Grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes. Afterwards, the group would walk back to campus together with various chants, signs and music.
Senior Maggie Dunn, president of FEMU club, mentioned that the event was cut short, however, due to a low turnout rate and the late occurrence of Easter break.
The Smick Walk was a continuation of the SMICK Rally that occurred on April 15. Junior Giselle Martinez, president of SDB, stated that both events tied together through a sense of solidarity within the Saint Mary's community. Students who participated in the previous rally were able to use their posters for this event as they walked around the campus.
"The idea was that you wouldn't have to go out and find materials to make your own signs. They would be provided for you and then it would be easier for students to participate," Dunn explained. "We wanted to eliminate that financial barrier."
Grace Maher '21, associate director of alumnae relations, discussed the events that lead to the first Smick Walk in spring 2021. She stated how Saint Mary's students were often mistreated and dehumanized by students and alumni predominantly from Notre Dame during her undergraduate years, along with being called "smick" in a derogatory manner.
Maher spoke about her frustration of the situation when she was a student and how she reached out to people for reassurance and support.
"I talked to a professor of mine, who was a mentor and a friend, and we put together the first Smick Walk," Maher said. "It was just meant to be a show of support and strength and reclamation of what a smick could be."
She explained how she grew up with women who attended Saint Mary's and the importance of seeing that identity represented.
"I grew up with this understanding that being a smick was a really beautiful and unique thing," she said. "It was you being able to stand in your power and be your truest self and have your own definition of what you wanted to do and who you wanted to be … It's nice to see that there are other people that care about that identity and want to claim that for themselves."
Martinez explained how SDB and FEMU got involved with continuing this tradition. SDB's main role within the event was to promote it throughout the campus.
"[SDB] learned about the original Smick Walk that happened in 2021 early in the semester, and we learned about the SMICK Rally event as well," Martinez said. "We were like, 'Okay, we will host the SMICK Rally and then we will reach out to FEMU to carry on this tradition of hosting the SMICK Walk,' and they were all for it. We were more of a promoter for this event and not necessarily organizing it."
SDB and FEMU encouraged attendees to wear the color purple and denim jeans to the walk. Dunn described the color purple to be "symbolic of survivors of sexual violence" and that this color paired with denim jeans were "really important when talking about a history of sexual violence targeted towards Saint Mary's [students]."
Dunn spoke about how wearing denim protests sexual violence and correlates to National Denim Day. A corresponding event will also be held at Saint Mary's campus this Thursday from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. in Le Mans Green.
"[National Denim Day] is in response to this myth that you wouldn't be sexually assaulted if you were wearing jeans because that would be too much work for them to undo your jeans, so if you wore denim then you wouldn't be assaulted," Dunn said. "Obviously, that is not accurate."
Organizers hope the event provides another reminder on the importance of addressing sexual violence and supporting allies and survivors.
"I hope the impact is that [the tri-campus community] just remember[s] that while this is a sensitive issue, it is one that is still happening to this day," Martinez said. "It is particularly harmful to an all-women's institution, and as an all-women's institution, it’s our mission to empower and to educate. This is one of those ways that we can do that, by empowering those that might've been impacted around us or educating those who haven't been impacted and know how to be a better supporter and advocate."
Maher emphasized the impact of Saint Mary's women to the tri-campus community and the need for greater unity and solidarity.
"Saint Mary's women are anything and everything that they want to be and they are massive contributors to the success of the tri-campus community," she said. "Women especially deserve the utmost respect from the entire community, and I think it's meant to prove to everyone that smicks are crucial. They are foundational to this community and we really would not be here without them."
Organizers look forward to a bigger turnout next year and that the event will keep continuing in the future.
"The fight is not over yet," Dunn said.
