Last week, October 19 through October 23, Longwood University’s College Panhellenic Council (CPC) hosted their second Women’s Week with the goal of spreading confidence throughout the campus community.
Women’s Week is a week of events that’s purpose, according to senior Vanessa Parada, student coordinator for the Office of Fraternity and Sorority Life, “is to tackle issues like body image perception, empowerment and what kind of role models we want to be for future generations of young girls.”
Women’s Week began with Monday’s Leave Your Legacy Campaign on Brock Commons, which allowed women to write on whiteboards about the type of legacy they want to leave at Longwood or write a message that encourages women’s confidence so that they could get their photo taken and add it to the “Legacy Display.”
Parada said, “We want to be able to celebrate the contributions women have made in our community and throughout the world, while raising awareness about the struggles women still face.”
On Tuesday, women were invited to Brock Commons for the week’s second event, which gave them the opportunity to participate in the Confidence Cake Walk. The activity was a twist on a traditional cakewalk, in which women could win cupcakes for speaking about their confidence as well as win t-shirts, scarves or gift cards.
Confidence speaker and CEO of the Leadership and Training Studio, Erin Fisher, joined Women’s Week on Wednesday night by speaking in Jarman Auditorium about the idea of “genuine” confidence and empowering young adults to be their best selves.
Parada said, “My favorite event would probably be the Genuine Confidence Speaker, Erin Fischer. I have had the opportunity to hear her speak at two conferences and she has the ability to make you feel amazing and empowered every time. She is not your cut of the mill female empowerment speaker because she is relatable and genuine.”
Thursday’s event was a joint effort between CPC and the campus programming board Lancer Productions, with both of them pitching in to bring female singer Candice Anitra, who performed in Wygal Auditorium. Anitra, whose music is a mix of soul, pop, funk and rock was picked to perform because Lancer Productions and CPC thought her display of passion and confidence would be the perfect fit for an event like Women’s Week.
Megan Drewry, a senior member of Lancer Productions who helped plan the event said, “Candice was completely different from what I was expecting because she was even better. Her music was really good and her voice was amazing. She was inspiring because she is super talented and super passionate about her music and you can tell.”
Women’s Week finished on Friday afternoon with a confidence bonfire on Brock Commons. The fake bonfire allowed students to write down things that stress them out and then crumple them up and throw it into the fake paper flames as a stress reliever.
Parada said, “This week is important for Longwood because Longwood has a large majority female population. We are constantly divided by organizations, titles and majors, and I think as women we need something that breaks down those divisions and lets us celebrate who we are.”
Women’s Week, which began at Longwood last fall, stemmed from the idea that October is National Women's Confidence Month. This year, Parada was in charge of creating and planning the entire week of activities with CPC members helping throughout the week at the various events.
According to Parada, the women of CPC and the Office of Fraternity and Sorority Life would like to continue Women’s Week as a fall tradition at Longwood during the month of October because of its increased success and feedback for adding and improving events.
Parada said, “I think Women's Week was a huge success. We got some amazing feedback and involvement throughout the entire week. It has never been so big before. We want to continue to encourage the women of Longwood and we want to make sure we help empower them to be the best they can be and never limit themselves based on body type, gender, or perception.”
