As Women’s History Month draws to a close, the Women’s Center, GU Women of Color and GU Women in Politics will sponsor events to recognize women who have played a significant role in university history.
“Celebrating Women’s History Month is a global event and we want to be part of that celebration,” Laura Kovach, director of the Women’s Center, wrote in an email. “It’s important for us to honor the women that have been a part of the Georgetown community and engage with our current students on issues that impact women every day of their lives.”
The events in the last days of March will include notable speakers, discussions and a celebration inDarnall Hall.
Telling Her Story: Intersections of Identity and Community, an event featuring women’s personal testimonies, has existed as a part of the university’s Women’s History Month for many years. This year, the program will focus on stories of minority undergraduate students who identify as part of Georgetown’s lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or questioning community.
“We wanted to give LGBTQ women of color a chance to share their experiences about life at Georgetown and how identity and community intersect,” Kovach wrote.
The Women’s Center also partnered with Campus Ministry and the White House Interfaith and Community Service Challenge to collect clothes and toiletries for the Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner program. The program provides new clothing and toiletries to rape victims who must give their clothing to medical personnel when a rape kit is collected.
“This is an important issue and a great way to work with the community to help rape survivors,”Kovach wrote.
Georgetown’s celebration of Women’s History Month extends to the Women’s Center at the School of Foreign Service in Qatar, which opened in 2010. English professor Patricia O’Connor will lead Shared Women’s Histories, a discussion between the two campuses centered on gender identity and other women’s issues.
Darnall Hall Day, the last scheduled event in honor of Women’s History Month, will take place on March 28. The day celebrates the life of Eleanor Darnall, the mother of Georgetown founder John Carroll and an advocate for women’s admission to the university.
From March 19 to 23, GU Women in Politics will hold alumni networking events, speakers and a pancake dinner. GU Women of Color will also sponsor discussions throughout the week.
“Women’s History Month is an opportunity to pay our respects to the women that played a key role in the development of our nation and women’s rights,” Ana Rodriguez (SFS ’15) said. “It’s important because it reminds us of the progress that has been made and the progress that is yet to be made.”
