{"id":65901,"date":"2025-02-28T08:21:03","date_gmt":"2025-02-28T13:21:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogarchive.utc.edu\/news\/?p=65901"},"modified":"2025-10-20T13:46:49","modified_gmt":"2025-10-20T17:46:49","slug":"womens-history-month-at-utc-a-time-for-recognizing-and-celebrating-women","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogarchive.utc.edu\/news\/2025\/02\/womens-history-month-at-utc-a-time-for-recognizing-and-celebrating-women\/","title":{"rendered":"Women\u2019s History Month at UTC: A time for recognizing and celebrating women"},"content":{"rendered":"

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To honor the sacrifices and changes women have set forth in history, the Center for Women and Gender Equity (WaGE) at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga celebrates Women\u2019s History Month throughout March.<\/p>\n

Observed in the United States since 1987, Women\u2019s History Month ensures time is set aside to recognize the struggles women have gone through and continue to endure while celebrating their work and contributions.<\/p>\n

As associate director of WaGE and the Prism Center at UTC, Lauren Ouwerkerk works with students to determine how to best celebrate Women\u2019s History Month. For 2025, they have decided to focus on tabling around campus to spread the word.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy hope is that people will\u2014even if it\u2019s just 10 minutes out of their day\u2014think about (women\u2019s history) and realize this is important to celebrate,\u201d Ouwerkerk said. \u201cIt\u2019s not to say we\u2019re not celebrating other folks any other time, but to really highlight and have conversations around the impacts of women throughout history\u2014and how history is not just happening in the 1800s and 1900s. It\u2019s happening today, too.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ouwerkerk recognized that in college, it is easy to lose track of time and not think about what is going on in the world. She hopes to remind students that Women\u2019s History Month is happening and that it\u2019s important.<\/p>\n

\u201c(This month) encourages folks to really reflect on not just those big people, but those small people who have made those little impacts on their life and let them know about that,\u201d Ouwerkerk said. \u201cIt can be so powerful for folks to hear, \u2018I am making a difference, even in those little things.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

As WaGE gets ready for a month of celebrating women, Ouwerkerk looks forward to inspiring deeper consideration and conversation among the campus community on the impact women have on the lives of others.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think one of my favorite parts is the joy of people being able to see themselves reflected in some of those conversations in a way that maybe they hadn\u2019t before,\u201d Ouwerkerk said. \u201cThe reality is, we want to celebrate anyone who is celebrating the impacts or the amazing things that women have accomplished.\u201d<\/p>\n

Women\u2019s History Month calendar of events include:<\/p>\n