BY KEILA MACPHERSON
Conestoga’s Student Life department is mostly associated with its Respect Campaign at the college, but the department is expanding each year by adding more opportunities for students to get involved.
This year, Janina Robinson, a Student Life programmer at the Cambridge campus, is starting an International Women’s Day Committee.
The committee will meet weekly starting the last week of January to plan an event that will be held in the Sanctuary on March. 8, with the support of Conestoga Students Inc.
March 8 became the official date for International Women’s Day in 1917.
According to www.internationalwomensday.com, women in Russia started a strike on Feb. 23 (on the Julian calendar Russia used at the time) to honour more than two million Russian soldiers who died in war. That date on the Gregorian calendar, which the majority of countries used, was March 8, 1917.
Since then it has been celebrated as an official holiday in many countries such as Cambodia, Belarus, Uganda, Vietnam, Afghanistan and Mongolia.
Google even recognizes the day by changing the graphic on its search home page.
Also, according to www.internationalwomensday.com, in the United States they don’t just celebrate one day for women; the entire month of March is considered Women’s History Month.
Robinson said one thing she likes most about International Women’s Day is the recognition of women as a part of a larger, global community.
“They are leaders in their field of employment and communities, they are mothers, they are friends, they are sisters, they are change-makers. They are one piece of a whole,” she said.
Her goal for the committee is to have members understand and feel, in general, that what they do locally can have a global effect. Anyone, male or female, seeking to help can join and prior knowledge of International Women’s Day is not required.
“Students do care about these things, but they might not have thought about it in the context of International Women’s Day.
“I encourage any student who has interest in the event and how they can be a part of making a difference, to join the committee.”
Interested students can contact Janina Robinson at jbrobinson@conestogac.
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