SRU WOMEN’S HISTORY MONTH
SLIPPERY ROCK — March is Women’s History Month, and the Slippery Rock University’s Women’s Center is celebrating with events and campaigns in coordination with several other campus organizations.
"Women's History Month is recognized around the country to highlight the many contributions of women throughout the history of our society," said Kendra Claypool, assistant director of SRU's Women's Center and Pride Center. "This is a great opportunity for SRU to observe women's history in our own way and for our campus community to participate, whether it's engaging in conversations about issues affecting women or celebrating their achievements."
SRU's Office for Inclusive Excellence (OIE) will share images and other content related to women's history all through March through its social media platforms, including Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.
Keshia Booker, the assistant director of multicultural development at the Office of Inclusive Excellence, said, “We participate in Women’s History Month annually. It’s grown substantially, but it’s an annual event to highlight the month.”
The following Women's History Month events are planned at SRU:
A Women's History Month Photo Campaign, 12:30 p.m. Tuesday in the Smith Student Center Commuter Lounge, sponsored by the Women's Center. People are invited to celebrate International Women's Day by having an empowering photo taken of themselves.
An appearance by a Sudanese poet and activist, 7 p.m. Tuesday, a virtual event sponsored by the Gender Studies Program and the Middle East Studies Center, featuring a presentation and poetry reading by Rama, a pseudonym for a writer-in-residence at Pittsburgh’s City of Asylum, a long-term residency for literary writers and other artists who are in exile from their home countries. Register online via the school’s CORE online platform.
“She’s a poet, activist, journalist and in exile,” said Dr. Cindy LaCom, the director of gender studies at SRU, who added the poet is using a pseudonym to protect her family still living in Sudan.
She said members of the Middle East Studies committee had heard Rama speak and were “completely enamored of her.”
“She’s brilliant,” said LaCom. “We invited her before the Russian invasion of Ukraine. So her activism is more salient now even that it has been before.”
“She works for women and girls in Sudan and in the world, and also for gender equity,” said LaCom.
Fadoua Loudiy, co-director of the Middle East Studies Center said Rama is currently a writer in residence at City of Asylum. When Loudiy went to hear her, she said, “I was taken by her poetry, her presence and her story.”
“She’s a great person to share her story, her work and her knowledge of the Sudanese war,” she said.
During a Movie Night at 7 p.m. Thursday in the SSC Theater, the Women's Center will sponsor a viewing of "Mulan."
“Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women: When Silence is Oppression,” is a virtual event at 7 p.m., March 21. It’s sponsored by the Gender Studies Program, the OIE and the Women's Center and is about how indigenous women are disproportionately experiencing violence, with guest speakers Deborah Maytubee Denton-Shipman and Brittany Hunt. Denton-Shipman is the founder of the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women USA organization, which assists families, and Hunt is a consultant and post-doctoral associate at Duke University. Register online via CORE.
Claypool said the Woman’s Center also recognizes Native American History Month in November. Denton-Shipman and Hunt’s presentation “highlights the intersectionality of identities.”
The Women and Allies of Distinction Mentoring Dinner is at 5 p.m. March 29, in the SSC Ballroom. It is the annual awards dinner sponsored by the President's Commission on Women and the Gender Studies Program. Tickets are available at sru.edu/tickets.
PASSHE Women's Consortium Conference March 24-26 via Zoom, is a Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education annual conference. More information is available at passhewomensconsortium.org.
The Women and Sustainability event is at 3 p.m. March 30 in the Macoskey Center. It’s a guided nature hike, seeding and other mindfulness activities, sponsored by the Women's Center and the Macoskey Center. All attendees receive a chive plant. Register on CORE.
The Self Care and Success Social, 12:30 p.m. March 31, SSC Commuter Lounge, sponsored by the OIE, provides attendees an opportunity to voice and showcase their successes and learn new self-care skills.
Women’s History Month activities were created to buttress the Women’s Center mission “to create and sustain an environment in which women and men can live, learn and work together in equality, understanding and mutual respect,” said Claypool.
For more information about Women's History Month programs, call 724-738-2992 or email womenscenter@sru.edu.
