March is Women’s History Month, a time that celebrates women and their contributions to American history and society over time in a range of areas. The National Women’s History Museum states that the month originally began as Women’s History Week, the holiday fought for more recognition and declared March as Women’s History Month in 1987. Each year, the organization chooses a theme, this year’s being, “Valiant Women of the Vote: Refusing to Be Silenced.” Sonoma State University is aiding students to celebrate virtually this year with various events ranging in subject matter to celebrate female figures.
Opening up virtual spaces for students to openly share their experiences during this time is invaluable, and the University has opened many spaces for students and faculty this month. On March 16, Umoja Queens, the University’s mentorship group for students who identify as Black Womxn within the Pan African Diaspora will be hosting a virtual meeting to connect to faculty who also identify as Black Womxn. This event will serve as a space for conversation as well as for students and faculty to relate to and learn from one another.
Another event coming up is on Wednesday March 17, from 12 p.m. to 1:15 p.m., the Women of Color Collective will be welcoming guest speaker Dr. Erica Tom, who is both a writer, and a teacher. Seawolf Living states that, “The WOCC is a weekly dialogue space co-facilitated by Womxn of color staff members from CAPS and The Hub that offers support, resources, laughter, and friendship to students who identify as WOC.” This is an important resource that the campus is able to provide virtually for their students to join in community and discuss various challenges. Despite physical closures, the University is creating virtual spaces that are open for many voices.
CAPS (Counseling & Psychological Services) at Sonoma State is also holding a virtual discussion event on March 18th, from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. and will include a wide variety of conversation topics. The discussion is geared towards relationships, stress, and emotional wellbeing. This event is for SSU womxn and is being held by Dr. Elisa Vasquez. The accessibility to confidential conversations for students off campus may be limited and the University is taking responsibility and ensuring they will be able to provide that space for students regardless of their proximity to campus. On and offline, the staff is making efforts to make their presence available during this time and they are continuing to look for avenues of connections within their student and faculty community.
All of these events can be found, along with others online on the Seawolf Living page. This is a network of various events and information surrounding Sonoma State and various departments’ efforts to improve student wellbeing. There are ample opportunities for students to connect with their peers and faculty, and similar events are occurring on a regular basis. With events surrounding subjects such as gender identity and some discussing alumni career experience, there is no subject off limits as the University seeks to open avenues for all members of the Sonoma State community to collaborate. This month is focused on recognizing the paths women have paved for others to continue to break barriers in many male dominated fields. Ultimately, the University continues to host events and share resources to their students and they are committed to including their students through multifaceted approaches.
