By Silvia Lopez Medero
Reporter

On Monday, March 4, campus programming started off Women’s History Month by hosting the celebrating women kick off event in the SU Patio that offered students the opportunity to take a moment to learn more on women, and their accomplishments.

It was estimated that more than 200 students attended the event, which was set up to serve as a way to start off a variety of other events planned by campus programming to celebrate women, such as the celebrating mother’s dinner and international women’s day celebration.

The kick off was started off by President Lynette Zelezny, who gave a quick overview of the event. She also spoke of her own accomplishments, and one of these included becoming the first female to be appointed as President of CSU Bakersfield

This event was decorated in the color purple that is known as the official color for International Women’s Day. Students were encouraged to partake in free food and chat amongst themselves at the purple tables. They could also choose to go to the informational tabling that the event had to offer.

There were about seven tables that students could go to, and each were run by different clubs and organizations. Each had information to offer in their respective fields, and many had free items that students could grab if they wanted.

There were two tables that were focused on giving students information as they showed support for women and students. The two separate tables were run by the teacher education department and student services for disabilities. The information that the teach education department wanted to spread is on how to become a teacher, and the requirements behind them. Their table also had masks because they wanted a hero theme to their table. On the other hand, the student services table wanted students to know that they have many resources to help them, and that they should not be afraid as the help they received will be kept confidential.

There was also a table run by the Black Student Union and their table was by far the most colorful with a variety of free items like small crowns, bracelets, necklaces, stickers, candy, and many other trinkets. This was done with a purpose as the group wanted to express inclusivity and diversity. They wanted to send a message that they are here to support women as a group, but they also want to tell students that their organization welcomes all.

Other tables had similar messages as they wanted people to know about and celebrate women in their fields. Three tables that had examples of powerful women were run by the CECE, anthropology club, and psychology club. All three had pictures of women that had success in their fields, but each table took a different approach.

The table for CECE was more interactive as they asked if students knew any of the women in the pictures, and if not, they had them guess to see what their positions were. Some of the people featured were Sheryl Sandburg the COO of Facebook, and Sally Grimes the Group president of Tyson Foods. This game attracted many students as students played to win prizes.

Meanwhile, the anthropology club focused more on explaining women’s accomplishments in anthropology. The president of the club, Sarah Trask, went on to explain that she wanted people to know about women’s accomplishments in anthropology because women are often overlooked in this field that is usually male dominated.

The psychology club had prominent women on campus like Dr. Duran and women from the broader field. Their message was basically that women should be recognized for their accomplishments.

There were also clubs like Club Gen that set out to really just say that there is so many diverse groups of women that can be diverse in race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, and various other ways.

The president of the club, Samantha Delacruz said, “That there is no one way to be a woman.”

CSUB student Teresa Iniguezz described the event as  “good and empowering.”

With that it can be said that they want to spread awareness and visibility on these different types of women.