Brescia Celebrates International Women’s Day
International Women’s day, held this year on Friday March 8th, is growing each year across the world. Brescia, as Canada’s only women’s university, is dedicated to recognition and advancement of women, so naturally the holiday is well-recognized on campus. This year, Brescia’s celebrations focused on education and equality for International Women’s Day.
A new but valuable tradition at Brescia is the Dr. Colleen Hanycz Leadership Lecture Series, started just last year. Held on the 7th, this year’s event had a theme appropriate for International Women’s Day: Educate a Woman, Empower a Nation. The speaker was Dr. Izzeldin Abuelaish, who has been nominated five times for the Nobel Peace Prize for his human rights activism and his work founding the Daughters for Life Foundation, an organization providing scholarships for female students in the Middle East. His keynote was followed by a panel of members of the Brescia community.
Brescia also took to social media to celebrate International Women’s Day with the Brescia community online. A video featuring Brescia students challenging traditional female gender roles was very popular. On Instagram, Brescia hosted a photo contest where Brescia students were encouraged to join in and post a themed photo with the hashtag #balanceforbetter- which was this year’s theme for the holiday. The lucky winner of the contest received a $100 dollar gift card, so plenty of students took part. The BUCSC also posted a themed photo of council members posing on campus to join in the celebrations.
Hosting a renowned women’s rights activist for a lecture and panel was a great way to recognize International Women’s Day and develop a discussion on campus about women’s empowerment through education. Following that, a video about breaking down stereotypes and a photo contest calling for equality encouraged students to contribute to the celebrations in their own way. This year, Canada’s only women’s university was proud to spend International Women’s day advocating, discussing, and raising awareness.
