HIGH POINT, N.C., March 17, 2015 – High Point University will join with the YWCA and City of High Point Human Relations Department in celebrating the city’s rich and diverse community of women at the International Women’s Day Celebration. The event will be held from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. on Friday, March 20, at the YWCA. The event is free and open to the public. Attendees are invited to bring their favorite cultural dish to share.
International Women’s Day is a worldwide celebration acknowledging the contributions of women to society and the importance of gender equality. High Point’s event will include food, music and performances representing women from many countries, including Mexico, Burma, Iraq and Sudan. Traditional Hispanic folk dances will be performed by members of High Point’s Latino Family Center. The event will also recognize the work of the YWCA’s Women’s Center.
HPU students in the Women, Gender and Culture class have taken an active role in service learning projects with organizations while helping to plan this year’s event, which is the first of its kind in High Point.
“Here in High Point, we have a rich international community, and this event is an opportunity to bring individuals together to learn from each other, make friends and develop new traditions,” says Dr. Jenn Brandt, assistant professor of English and director of women’s and gender studies. “My students are studying women’s issues related to health, the economy and development, and through their service learning are connecting these ideas and concepts to our local community. This celebration is way for them to ‘think globally and act locally’ when it comes to understanding the role of women worldwide.”
Lexi Koperna, a senior English literature major from Reading, Pennsylvania, has worked with Guilford Child Development’s Learning Together family literacy class this semester. She says this experience has helped her see firsthand the importance of education in improving the lives of women in the High Point community.
“By interacting with women during my service project, I have had the opportunity to actively apply what I’ve learned in the classroom to actual experience, and in doing so have had a firsthand account of the benefits of multiculturalism and the power that education has in knocking down socially constructed borders that not only divide the community here in High Point, but across the globe,” Koperna says.
HPU students involved in the projects say the International Women’s Day Celebration will offer a fun atmosphere for people to gather around the common cause of improving the lives of women locally.
“Women and their families have been asked to attend and spread knowledge about their cultures with the intention of encouraging greater equality and acceptance,” says Marissa Brauer, a senior sociology major from Springfield, Massachusetts. “Our hope is that this event will inspire others to celebrate the achievements of the women here in High Point.”