The 20th anniversary of the annual Take Back the Night march and rally has its organizers setting higher hopes for attendance than in the past — 500 to 1,000 participants.

According to Shannon Hobbs, a graduate intern in the Women’s Center, has been organizing this event since August.

“We’re trying to make it bigger and better than it has been in the past,” Hobbs said.

The event’s purpose, she said, is to raise awareness about rape and sexual assault on N.C. State’s campus, and although the hope is that rape is going down, she said there is no way to be certain of that.

“We’re not really sure because rape is so underreported … and it’s hard to really gage that,” Hobbs said.

Student Body President Bobby Mills and speaker at the rally agreed.

“Sometimes, you can’t base your success on the number of rapes because there are so many rapes that are unaccounted for,” he said.

According to Mills, he plans to talk about rape prevention on campus and what the University is doing to “slow that down” in his speech at the rally.

Both Mills and Hobbs agreed that having Take Back the Night during Homecoming Week this year will increase participation.

“It brings greater awareness to it, and more people will be informed about the night in general,” Mills said.

Johnson said Take Back the Night has not been part of Homecoming Week in years past, but that she is looking forward to it.

“We really wanted to be part of Homecoming Week this year because it’s our 20th-year anniversary,” she said. “It’s an important issue on campus, and it will bring more participation when incorporating it with something so big as Homecoming Week.”

According to Megan Delph, a graduate student in agricultural education and one of the night’s organizers, the Women’s Center has been working diligently on this event.

“We’re put in a lot of publicity and time to get people to know about it,” she said.

Delph said she is looking forward to Take Back the Night’s newest addition this year, the listening tables where survivors or friends of survivors who do not feel comfortable enough sharing their stories with the entire crowd can speak one-on-one to a counselor about their experiences.

Johnson said her favorite part of the event has always been the Speak Out portion “to be able to hear survivors talk about what happened to them and hear their stories and their courage.”

Delph agreed that this is an important aspect of the event.

“Students and members of the community tell their story or say something in support [of rape prevention],” she said.

In this portion, participants will share their stories and their poems about their experiences.

According to Hobbs, if there is one thing she wants people to get out of the event, it’s that everyone can be part of the solution.

The marches will take place at 6:15 p.m. and depart from the Quad, West Campus Amphitheater and Greek Court. The Rally will then commence at the North Plaza behind the Talley Student Center. The evening will wrap up with a candlelight vigil and then a reception at the Women’s Center.