Avery Boulware, Campus Carrier News Editor

Avery Boulware | CAMPUS CARRIER

Students submitted original artwork, including paintings and photography, to be displayed in the Jewel Box during the Women’s and Gender Studies’ event “Voices” on Friday, March 24.

Students, faculty and staff gathered in the Jewel Box to celebrate women during the third annual “Voices” event on Friday, March 24.  

The event began three years ago as a way for the Women’s and Gender Studies department to celebrate National Women’s History Month on campus.  

“We came up with an idea for this artistic fusion where you could commemorate women and women’s history in a unique way,” Susan Conradsen, director of the Women’s and Gender Studies program, said.  

The theme of Women’s History Month three years ago centered around hearing women’s voices in a variety of areas, which is where the Women’s and Gender Studies department got the name for their event, “Voices.”  

This year, the theme was female entrepreneurship. The “Voices” event featured freshman Olivia Leviton, who owns an Etsy shop called Spotted Gecko. “Voices” also celebrated the entrepreneurial spirit of Martha Berry. 

Senior Sabrina Ishrat is the student supervisor for the Women’s and Gender Studies department and was in charge of logistics for the event. 

“It’s a lot of emailing and phone calls,” Ishrat said. “We advertised constantly, trying to get submissions.” 

Ishrat organized the program in such a way that there would be variety in the order of performers, balancing intense pieces with more lighthearted ones. The department monitored submissions but never censored content. 

“As long as it celebrated women’s lives, we took it,” Conradsen said.