Founded last year, the UCCS Feminist Club seeks to bring like-minded individuals together and offer a space for students to find support and connect with each other in a safe environment.
On Sunday, March 13, the feminist club will host its second annual women’s march to advocate for equality and connection as feminists. The club invites students and community members to join the march beginning at City Hall in downtown Colorado Springs.
“I think [the march] allows people to come together and take a stance on what they value and what they feel strongly about. You’re in a supportive community that backs you and shares those beliefs,” said club president Alisha Silkey, a sophomore psychology and philosophy major. “I think the collective group piece is really valuable for people.”
Silkey encourages everyone, no matter their background, to get involved in feminist club events such as the women’s march.
“We believe feminism is for everybody,” Silkey said. “All students and members of the community are welcome; there’s no criteria [that] you have to be a woman or you have to identify as a woman. Our club is really is a space for everyone in our campus community.”
According to Silkey, the women’s march has a history of building community among individuals in Colorado Springs.
“Last year, I think [the march] was a great time for community building. I think it brought a lot of people together and people felt really connected and really supported. I felt that it was a space where people could share their experiences,” she said.
“Our motto for the feminist club is ‘Come as you are and come when you can,’ so students don’t have to make any formal commitments by being a member of the feminist club,” she said.
The women’s march is open to the entire Colorado Springs community — not just students at UCCS. “If people have parents, relatives, friends in the community who want to come, everyone is welcome. No RSVP is required,” Silkey said.
The march will take place from 2-4 p.m. and will start from City Hall at 107 N. Nevada Ave.
“We chose City Hall because it’s pretty centrally located. It allows us a nice space where we can start our gathering because there’s so much space there,” she said. “[It’s] a place where there’s a lot of visibility and we can have our voices seen and heard.”
For more information about the feminist club or the upcoming women’s march, visit the website here. To stay updated with upcoming feminist club events, follow their Instagram account @uccsfeminists.