T-shirts in a rainbow of colors lined the hall of Johnston Commons yesterday, each shirt representing a State College woman who was the victim of a violent act.

The display, which will continue through Friday, was part of The Clothesline Project, a national program in which T-shirts are made by and for women who are the victims of violence.

"My heart goes out to all of them," said Jacqueline Hernandez (freshman-crime, law and justice), who stopped by to view the exhibit. "I know women in my family who have been through hardships."

Tracy Shadowens, residence life coordinator, organized the exhibit of about 35 shirts provided by the Center for Women Students.

She said the goal of the exhibit was to increase awareness among students and to allow women who have been the victims of violence to read the stories of others.

"Knowing that you're not alone is so important sometimes," Shadowens said.

Susan DelPonte, program assistant for the Center for Women Students, said the center has more than 300 shirts created by Penn State students and community members in storage.

"The most prevalent color is red for rapes," she said, adding that rapes occur frequently on college campuses.

Signs were also taped onto the pillars in East Halls with statistics about violence against women.

One sign said, "One out of every two women will be in a violent relationship." Another said, "Before the age of 18, one in three girls will be the victim of incest or sexual assault."

A guide was posted indicating the meaning of the T-shirt colors: Red and orange shirts represented victims of rapes; yellow and beige, of battering; green and blue, of incest; purple, of homophobia. White T-shirts were created by the family of friends of women who had died.

DelPonte said she hopes the exhibit helps men realize they are the solution to violence against women.

"It's a damn shame," said Cordero Thompson (sophomore-accounting), who stopped to read some of the shirts.

Emily Jungblut (senior-public relations) was supervising the exhibit. She said the shirts help viewers visualize the victims of violence.

"I picture a person in a T-shirt. The T-shirt makes it more real," she said.

Hernandez said the shirt that hit her the hardest was a blue, baby-sized T-shirt.

"This is how little I was when you RAPED ME," the shirt read, "But WATCH OUT! 'Cause I'm NOT this little anymore."

Kourtney Marcus (sophomore-special education) said she was moved by the exhibit.

She mentioned a green shirt bearing the numbers nine and 25: nine indicating the age at which the T-shirt's maker was abused, 25 indicating the age at which she remembered it.

"That was like -- wow," Marcus said.

Jungblut said people who stopped to look at the exhibit displayed a range of reactions.

"I saw a group of guys walk by and they laughed at it, which is, I think, their reaction to being uncomfortable," she said.