In honor of Women’s History Month and the influential women in our lives and community, the Women’s Student Association (WSA) is hosting the Women of Influence event in person on Monday, March 29, from 6-8 p.m.
The event will feature a panel with influential women at UCCS who will talk about their experiences and share the importance of Women’s History Month. Attendees will also be able to ask the panel members questions.
The panel will include both student and faculty perspectives.
Lisa Potoka, the assistant dean of students; Sabrina Wienholtz, who currently works in the Ent Center; Sylvia Mendez, a professor and chair of the leadership, research and foundations department; and student Bry’ona Johns Renfroe, co-president of the WSA, will be on the panel.
Regarding the decision to host the Women of Influence event in March, third-year human services major and WSA Co-President Shaie Muhamad said, “It’s a good time to take a couple of hours one evening to really honor and talk about influential women and hear from different perspectives on campus.”
According to Muhamad, last year’s Women of Influence event was their most successful and largest event to date.
“We had so many people show up, so many men, too, which was so great,” Muhamad said. “That was the last event that happened before everything shut down.”
In addition to this event, the WSA actively hosts a book club. They are currently reading “Such a Fun Age” by Kiley Reid.
Muhamad said they decided to read this book specifically because it was written by a Black woman author.
“It is fiction, but there are very important messages within it,” she said.
She continued, “Our formal mission is that we empower professionally, socially, and academically on the campus. That can mean a lot of things. Sometimes we do professional development events, and other times we just get together and talk and hang out.
“It’s really like a friendship group.”
The WSA meets once a month in University Center, room 302, with two different time options — that way students can pick a meeting that works best with their schedule.
Their upcoming meetings are on April 12 at 3 p.m. and April 15 at 3 p.m. and will focus on teaching members sign language and Deaf history because March 13-April 15 is National Deaf History Month.
On their Mountain Lion Connect (MLC) page, the club has 60 students on their roster. According to Muhamad, there are about 20 active members.
WSA started in the fall of 2018, and this is their third time hosting the Women of Influence event.
Dinner will be served at the event with vegan and vegetarian options. The event will be held in Kettle Creek.
RSVP for the Women of Influence event at the MLC here, so the WSA can monitor capacity for social distancing and contact tracing measures. The event capacity is 37 people.
For more information about the Women of Influence event or the Women’s Student Association, contact Muhamad at [email protected].
