Wittenberg’s Womyn’s Center celebrated International Day of the Girl by hosting “Celebrate Your Power” in collaboration with the Office of Admission, the COMPASS: Sweet Success Center, and Shades of Pearl, on Monday, Oct. 11, in Founders, located on the lower level of the Benham-Pence Student Center.  

Approximately 16 students were in attendance including high schoolers from the Upward Bound program, middle schoolers from Urbana, and college students from Wittenberg. During the event, attendees discussed real issues in today’s society, drafted an empowerment manifesto, and created media to help bridge the digital divide. 

“The goal of the event was to bring awareness to International Day of the Girl, as well as provide education about the challenges facing girls today. We want to give girls an opportunity to talk about and reflect upon their experiences with gender inequality, and brainstorm things that they would like to change,” said Brooke M. Wagner, associate professor of sociology and director of the Womyn's Center. “We also created an empowerment manifesto to be read when needing encouragement and support. This was our first time having an event for International Day of the Girl on campus, and we are hoping to celebrate this each year in the future with girls from the community.” 

Annually and internationally recognized on Oct. 11, International Day of the Girl aims to empower girls and amplify their voices. According to its website, the day acknowledges the importance, power, and potential of adolescent girls. The day is also designated to eliminate gender-based challenges that girls face around the world, including child marriages, poor learning opportunities, violence, and discrimination. 

Wittenberg’s Womyn's Center is an integral part of the University's liberal arts mission and functions to ensure moral responsibility and value development by focusing on the issues, needs, and concerns affecting students, faculty, and staff that are women and gender minorities. Committed to building a safe, inclusive, learning environment for all in the students, faculty, staff, and the Springfield community regardless of one's gender, sexual orientation, nationality, age, race, class, ability status, or religion, the Womyn’s Center hosts numerous events including game nights, self-defense training, Take Back the Night in October, and consent week in April, which is a collaborative event across campus dedicated to educating students on what consent is through different events. 

“The Womyn’s Center is here to empower women, girls, and other gender minorities on campus and in the community,” Wagner said. “Our goals are to provide a safe place and supportive atmosphere for women and gender minorities, provide awareness and education about issues facing women and gender minorities, as well as to provide a place for advocacy and activism. This semester we are looking forward to our Take Back the Night event coming up later this month and are planning educational and outreach events for November.” 

An awareness event about domestic and sexual violence, Take Back the Night (TBTN) is scheduled for Oct. 21 at 6:30 p.m. in Commencement Hollow with Founders being the rain site.

“This is our eighth-year hosting Take Back the Night on campus in October,” Wagner added. “The event asks that we come together to support survivors of violence and to literally ‘take back the night’. Night is traditionally thought of as an unsafe time for women. TBTN asks us to reclaim the night as a time for everyone, where women and other vulnerable groups can and should be safe.” 

The event features guest speakers, performances, an open mic, and will conclude with a candlelight vigil and a moment of silence at the Campus Seal.  

The Womyn’s Center is located on the first floor, room 103, of the Joseph C. Shouvlin Center for Lifelong Learning. Students are welcome to drop by during open hours to watch TV, study on the couch, read from the feminist library, or bring a group and play one of the many board games the center has to offer. The feminist library stays current on popular texts and subscribes to the magazines - Ms., Mother Jones, and Bitch. Weekly hours and weeknight activities are advertised through 25Live and on the Womyn’s Center social media accounts. 

Emergency items are also available through the Womyn’s Center for students and include condoms, dental dams, pregnancy tests, and menstrual hygiene products. These items can be found on the resource table outside the Womyn’s Center. A feminist zine, That Bitch, is also produced by the Womyn’s Center.