Friends on Campus | Photo by Harminder Singh Langri | The Wright State Guardian
March is Women’s History Month and Wright State University (WSU) students and staff are ready to highlight the community’s wide range of accomplishments.
Celebrating women
Senior creative writing major Jana Ricker faced her own struggles throughout the years while fighting for women’s voices to be heard.
“The voices of women, the voices of minorities, they’ve been squelched. Women have to fight for rights and equality. We deserve some recognition. Some people might say, ‘Oh, well we’re at a point in society now where that doesn’t have to be done. You’ve got your rights, be done with it,’ but that’s when we slip back into the older ways,” Ricker said.
Ricker was a part of a class-action suit against the Miami County Sheriff’s Office in the 80s and won. It was an Equal Employment Opportunity suit because the men were being paid higher wages than their female counterparts.
English professor Dr. Christine Junker had not thought to celebrate Women’s History Month until it was brought to her attention.
“It’s weird, but I feel like it’s easier to incorporate when there’s structure to do it. I don’t feel like I celebrated anything for a year. I am a privileged person and the biggest challenges that I’ve faced are balancing work and caregiving, but there’s always that fear that all women have been taught. Fear of being alone and the fear of going places alone are always there,” Junker said.
Progress for the future
Junior English major Megan Chappie also highlighted that she is privileged in her life and wants to celebrate Women’s History Month by reading John Paul II’s Letter to Women.
“I’ve always felt very welcome and accepted and I feel like [WSU] is a safe place to have important conversations,” Chappie said.
According to Chappie, the way to move forward in society is to remember one’s dignity as human beings. Men and women are objectified constantly and society has to go back to its roots of seeing eye to eye with one another.
“When I was reading about the cuts that they’re making to staff and faculty, the majority of them are coming out of COLA and I’m really concerned that by doing that they’re going to lose some of that diversity and drive to keep important topics like gender studies for students. I hope that they don’t lose sight of the diversity they’ve built,” Ricker said.
Among the women that inspire Junker, Ricker and Chappie are Michelle Obama, mothers, saints, Elenor Roosevelt, Julia Child and Louisa May Alcott.
