Lee students are invited to share their voices on women, equality, diversity and other world issues through a variety of interactive events this week through International Women's Week (IWW) from Tuesday to Friday.
The events will include guest speakers and special services in both the Conn and Dixon centers during chapel on Tuesday and Thursday, a student poster session followed by a faculty/staff reception on Wednesday and a Koch lecture and Culture Fest in Alumni Park on Friday. See the flyer for more details.
Coordinator and Cultural Diversity Committee member Ana Alves hopes that all kinds of students, both male and female, will make it a point to attend some of the events in order to learn about and engage with some of the issues in the world.
"We want everyone to have success, learn and engage well and part of that is affirming them for who they are through different events," Alves said. "It's good for both guys and girls to be part of the conversation and be aware of issues that happen in the world."
Lee University has celebrated International Women's Day, March 8, since 2010. As a Christian university, Lee approaches the day and it's surrounded week with not only events that share the goal to challenge the expectations and stereotypes of women, but also focus on diversity and the integration of faith and learning.
"We celebrate both diversity and equality [and] we affirm women as being equally made in the image of God, just as men are," Alves said. "Part of our Lee mission is civic engagement and uniting faith and [one's discipline] in order to have an integration of faith and learning. "I hope that students can [learn to] love themselves for who they are and for what God wants them to be in life."
Senior Karen Chambliss, one of the event planners, emphasizes that this week's events are important for everyone - not just for women - and that they encourage attendees to engage in conversations with many different people.
"[The goal is] to celebrate the strength and beauty of women on this campus and across the world, to make Lee known as a place of justice and compassion, and to encourage discussion about important social issues," Chambliss said. "It's a good place to come and have some intellectual and enthusiastic conversations, all of them kind of related to [the question of] 'How can we make this world a more just/better/compassionate place?'"
One of the more prominent events to be featured is the student poster session to be located in the Science and Math Complex (SMC) Great Room on Wednesday, March 16 from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m., which will feature students' presentations on topics such as women's rights, women's issues and gender equality. Attendees are encouraged to vote for their favorite presentations and fill out a survey about their experience.
"It's an opportunity for students to present their work, their research, and their passions to a friendly audience in a very low-pressure environment," Chambliss said. "It's good experience and also very encouraging to be able to talk about things that interest you with other people who are interested."
The poster session will also include more presentations, prizes and judges this year, and is also open to anyone in the community.
"The students are not just an audience, but they also bring their own voice and highlight the kinds of issues that they care about with regard to the representation of women, diversity, etc." Alves said. "It's really cool seeing students finding out things on their own and bringing to the conversation whatever they think is relevant. I love that."
