Gannon Knight Features

     Every March, women are honored, celebrated and acknowledged for their accomplishments and struggles throughout history. Both International Women’s Day and National Women’s History Month commemorate women as strong, independent, intelligent people who’ve made significant headway in the gender equality movement.
     Although the prejudice against the female population is a global social epidemic that still plagues the world in the 21st century, both men and women alike continue to fight the discrimination battle every day.
     Barbara Roberts, administrative secretary of Gannon University’s Nash Library, said National Women’s History Month means remembering and honoring women at Gannon.
     “It’s the time of the year where we try to put women forward in thinking and make everyone aware that women do a lot for and on this campus,” said Roberts, who also serves as the Gannon University Support Staff Association president. “We’re special, and this month celebrates just how special we are.”
     “Writing Women Back into History” – the overarching theme for the 30th anniversary of this year’s National Women’s History Month – focuses on women who’ve been left out of the history books.
     Roberts said GUSSA is recognizing the female faculty, staff and administration at Gannon in celebration with this year’s theme by creating posters with a photo collage of women of the university.
     Roberts said she encourages the empowerment of women through support and praise.
     “We need to recognize women and the challenges we face in a man’s world,” she said. “We’re mentors, teachers, friends, mothers – we’re like the strong minority. Quiet, but strong.”
     Any female Gannon employee can submit a copy of a photo to GUSSA secretary Melissa Lesniewski or have her photo taken before Gathering In Praise at 10:30 a.m. March 11 and after the ceremony between noon and 1 p.m. on the third floor of the Nash Library in the Schuster Gallery.
     All are welcome to attend the unveiling of this year’s collage on March 25 in the Schuster Gallery.
     Associate Director of Campus Ministry R.C. Griffin said March’s Gathering In Praise will also dedicate its ecumenical service to National Women’s History Month at 11 a.m. March 11 in the Schuster Gallery.
     “I think every church, every religion should recognize the unique gifts women possess and their contributions to our world,” he said. “We need to recognize the injustices done to them in the past – and even the injustices now – that remain.”
     Next month’s Gathering In Praise – “Herstory: Women’s Spiritual Journeys” – will incorporate prayers and guest speakers by, for and about women.
     Students, faculty and staff are asked to share their stories about women who have positively influenced their lives through a link on the Gannon Portal.
     Griffin said the Gathering In Praise team will essentially create an anonymous prayer from the story submissions they receive.
     “For example, if someone sends us a story about their mother who’s a great role model because she didn’t work to stay home and raise the kids, then we’d maybe incorporate a prayer blessing the stay-at-home moms,” Griffin said. “One of our goals for this service is to break the perpetuated stereotypes that have gone on throughout history about women.”
     A complimentary lunch is scheduled to follow the service.
     In addition to the GUSSA poster collage and Gathering In Praise, The Activities Programming Board is scheduled to participate in the celebration and recognition of women, as well.
     Motivational speaker and Dove’s “Campaign for Real Beauty” model Stacy Nadeau will speak and discuss body image issues at 7:30 p.m. March 10 in Room 104 of the Zurn Science Center.
     In 2005, five women, including Nadeau, confidently bared their bodies in only underwear on billboards across the country in an attempt to break the stereotypical stick-thin image as a part of Dove’s campaign. The “Real Women” ads celebrate the diversity of different bodies and aims to eliminate the stigma attached to curvier women. Nadeau has appeared on TV shows such as “Oprah,” NBC’s “Today Show,” “Ellen” and “Dr. Phil.”
     Junior respiratory therapy major Deadria Clarke, APB after hours chair, assisted in bringing Nadeau to speak in honor of International Women’s Day on March 8 and said it’s important to have speakers like Nadeau address women’s issues.
     “Women were pioneers in so many different fields and people aren’t getting the right history and the right sense of how important woman really are today,” she said. “Women are more than just bodies and looks.”