March is for women

March marks Women’s History Month and there are plenty of things to do for the celebration both on and off campus.

The Women’s Resource Center will celebrate Women’s History Month the week of March 12 to 16. Liv McClelland, from the Women’s Resource Center, explained the reason why they chose to wait until the middle of the month for their events.”There are so many great things going on with Chicano Awareness Week, we didn’t want to take away from that in any way,” McClelland said.

The Women’s Resource Center also is co-sponsoring of Chicano Awareness Week, which runs from March 2 until March 9.

The Resource Center will hold several different events throught the week. All events are free to the public.

The center will offer a women’s self-defense training session. McClelland said that they previously held the self-defense training during new student orientation and the main complaint was that it was not long enough. This training will last three hours.

Another highlighted event from the week is the Women’s Celebration Luncheon. A buffet will be offered. The Women’s Resource Center asks for people to write a paragraph about a woman on campus. The Women’s Resource Center staff will then will print them up and arrange them in a collage to be displayed during the luncheon.

The Women’s Resource Center is recruiting during the month of March for “Take Back the Night,” which occurs May 3.

For more information about any of the upcoming events contact the Women’s Resource Center at (503) 725-5672.

Portland State’s women’s studies Department, in conjunction with the Oregon Commission for Women (OCFW), also celebrated the month with an event honoring “Inspiring Stories of Courage and Vision.”

The celebration included performances by Monmouth Taiko Drummers, Kukatonon Children’s African Dance Troupe and St. Mary’s Girls’ School Choir. There was also dramatic readings of several Oregon women’s stories of courage and vision.The event began with a reception featuring educational booths from Portland State’s women’s studies department, the OCFW, In Other Words Books and others.

The event was held on Sunday in Lincoln Hall and $10 donations were asked of attendees to benefit the Walk of Heroines Project at Portland State.The Walk of Heroines Project will not break ground until next year. The pathway, which will include water features, an informational kiosk and memorial bricks, will be a place to honor women. The Walk will be located in the space that now includes the current pathway to Hoffman Hall.

Other local universities will also celebrate Women’s History Month. Lewis and Clark will hold a Gender Conference March 14 through 16. This event is also free to the public.

Angela Davis, author, philosopher and educator, will speak at the conference. Davis is famous for her involvement in the Black Panther Party.International Women’s Day will be celebrated on Sunday, March 11 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Portland Conference Center. The first International Women’s Day was March 8, 1911.

In 1978 in California, the Education Task Force of the Sonoma County Commission on the Status of Women began a “Women’s History Week” celebration. The week was chosen to coincide with International Women’s Day.

In 1981, the U.S. Congress passed a resolution establishing the week of March 8 as National Women’s History Week. Co-sponsors of the resolution were Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah and Sen. Barbara Mikulski of Maryland.

In 1986, the National Women’s History Project, which was founded in 1979 by Molly MacGregor, helped expand the celebration of National Women’s History Week to the entire month of March.

In 1987, at the request of the National Women’s History Project, Congress expanded the week to a month, and the U.S. Congress has issued a resolution every year since then. Each U.S. president also issues an annual proclamation of Women’s History Month.