IU recreational sports employees cheered, waved pom poms and banged inflatable boom sticks together as two racers jogged down Law Lane towards the finish line. It was Oct. 22, a surprisingly warm day. Their white shirts were stained with vibrant color powder – pink, blue, green. As they approached the emcee at the finish, he waved his IU flag in celebration.

“Oh, a green neck, okay,” the emcee said. “I like it, I like it.”

They were two of the hundred of students who participated in the 2022 Jill Behrman Color the Campus 5K.

The 5K honors Jill Behrman, an IU student who was murdered on a solo bike ride in 2000. It’s a charity event, raising money for a scholarship in Jill’s name, personal safety classes and campus recreational sports events. 

In 2020, the event was virtual, and participants could complete the event at home. Last school year, it was in the spring due to planning committees not being able to meet during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. But this fall, the event was back on schedule thanks to its steering committee, Marilyn Behrman, Jill’s mother, said.

“Many of them were not even born in the year 2000 when my daughter Jill disappeared,” she said. “How engaged they are and how dedicated they are to this cause just amazes me.”

Marilyn participates in the 5K every year. But she always walks, and she chooses to be showered in the color powder.

“Some of my friends that do it with me don’t,” she said. “I think even when you don’t go through the color, you’re still getting that experience just by seeing it all.”

But the event is not all about running and walking. Recreational sports employees lead warmups before the race, participants get food after finishing, and there’s a dance party outside the Student Recreational Sports Center to end it all.

And while students turn out every year for the experience, Marilyn said she appreciates the awareness the event also creates about safety. She said she believes campus safety has improved since 2000.

“There’s a lot of effort from various offices and student groups on campus as far as the whole awareness thing,” she said.

Though it’s been 22 years, students, staff and community members still keep showing up.

“Just remembering Jill or recognizing and realizing that she was my daughter, she did exist and it’s been a long time,” Marilyn said, “and people are still making a lot of great effort to support me, to support us. It’s incredible.”