DU students and local organizations celebrated International Women’s Week through various events on and off campus. International Women’s Week takes place the first week of March as part of the larger Women’s History Month.

Here’s how the Denver community celebrated: 

March 1 – Free headshots at Korbel 

To kick off Women’s History Month, the DU IGNITE chapter, a student organization dedicated to increasing civic involvement of women, took free headshots for professional use at Korbel on March 1. 

March 4 – Legally Blonde screening hosted by IGNITE and DUPB 

On March 4, IGNITE and DUPB collectively put on a screening of Legally Blonde featuring Reese Witherspoon, better known as Elle Woods, an icon in the world of women and film. The screening took place in the Grand Forum on March 4 from 6:30-8:30 p.m. 

Kania Campbell, president of the DU IGNITE chapter, is a third-year public policy and history major. “Legally Blonde is a good movie for referencing some surface-level gender biases women experience in the field of law,” Campbell said. “We may be judged for how we present; we are sexualized, we are infantilized and our intellect is constantly questioned until we offer something for the patriarchy to gain from.” 

Campbell explains that this issue is happening right here on campus. “I am glad that our group took the opportunity to inform our communities about it in a fun way,” said Campbell.

The screen-out turnout was about 30 people who enjoyed the film while indulging in food from Maria Empanada, a woman-owned restaurant. 

March 5 – Screening of “The Janes” and discussion led by Cobalt and New Era Colorado, hosted by DU Better 

On March 5 in CCOM 1800, DU Better co-hosted a screening of “The Janes” followed by a brief discussion led by Cobalt and New Era Colorado. The screening turnout consisted of about 15 people, all of whom appeared to be women, speaking volumes about this social issue and who it affects. 

“We had a couple films we were considering,” said Audrey Hartfield, DU graduate student and Cobalt Advocates policy fellow. The organizers of the event chose to show “The Janes,” a movie about an underground abortion clinic in the 60s, because of its relevance to today’s reproductive rights crisis.

“This is all right before Roe v Wade happened so in the late 60s and early 70s, and we are now again in a moment where there is not a federal right to abortion,” said Hartfield. 

Cobalt and New Era Colorado are working on a campaign to get a constitutional right to abortion enshrined in the Colorado constitution. This event was held during International Women’s Week to “have a greater conversation about abortion rights and access with students and folks that these issues very directly affect,” said Hartfield.

While Colorado is currently a state where reproductive rights are protected, Hartfield explained that “there is no certainty long-term that it will remain accessible in this state.”

March 8 – USG International Women’s Day March 

On Friday, March 8, widely known as International Women’s Day, USG hosted a march. The crowd gathered outside of Dimond Family Residential Village in waves of purple to honor all women. Supplies to make posters were provided by USG, and students were given handouts to chant along as they marched. Before the march began, a few speakers from USG rallied the crowd with reasons why we march, a land acknowledgment and a few instructions about the event. 

Students chanted as they marched toward the campus green, through Community Commons, down the bridge and to Mary Reed, where they gathered for more speakers.

 

Sophomore Yoli Ramirez, the director of student advocacy at USG, cited a beautiful poem about what feminism is and why it’s important to keep marching. 

“I run the cabinet for student advocacy, and we noticed that DU doesn’t have a very strong presence of feminism and women empowerment, especially during these dates,” said Ramirez. 

According to Ramirez, the goal of the event was to spread the word that there are women who still care about women’s empowerment. “It was definitely to create a better community and I would say that it worked,” she said. “The team created a beautiful community.” 

Despite the cold weather, the march had a strong turnout. “All of the people here joined with love and care for women,” Ramirez said.

March 11 – Activism at the Capitol

On March 11, IGNITE and other DU activists went to the state capitol to advocate for the Free Menstrual Products to Students bill. The passing of this bill would legislate for menstrual products to be provided to students in middle and elementary public schools in Colorado. At this protest, people also advocated for the Child Sexual Abuse amendment which is “currently being suppressed by the Colorado’s Republican State Senators,” explained Campbell. 

That same day, IGNITE met with State Senator Rhonda Fields to discuss these issues. 

March 31, 6-7 p.m. – Self Care Night 

Join IGNITE and other DU students at the self-care night in CCOM 1100 6-7 p.m., to celebrate the end of Women’s History Month. This event will also feature a visit from a IGNITE’s national organization representative. 

“We hope to use this to reflect and give ourselves some gratitude for all the work we have done together,” said Campbell. 

As students and organizations continue to celebrate women during this month and going forward, it’s important to keep in mind our “resources and opportunities to mobilize to promote the intersectional experiences of women and put our words into action,” said Campbell. 

These events were supported and uplifted by 8MDU, an on-campus programming board for International Women’s Week. 

“I hope this is the beginning of our campus culture shifting into a space that appreciates intersectional identities and acknowledges our needs, but we still have many ways to go,” said Campbell.