March is Women’s History Month and the Women in Transition (WIT) Program is celebrating. This program is the oldest learning community on Skyline campus, founded in 1975.
The center is located in Bldg. 2, room 2307 and offers resources to women who are re-entering college or need information about transferring, financial aid and campus oriented resources—as well as offering support and options to women seeking help.
The center is available as a quiet place to study or talk during mornings from Tuesday through Friday.
“Hardly anybody knows anything about [women’s history],” said Lori Slicton, coordinator of the Women in Transition Program. “Women’s history is largely invisible but women’s history is shared history. We can make the same extension to ethnic history and things like that…are so much a part of all that we have and all we’ve endured but also achieved and that’s something to recognize .”
The event will be held every Tuesday in Bldg. 2 Room 2306. It begins at 12:30 p.m. and light refreshments will be provided.
Starting March 5 is the first documentary and discussion of the month and being played is “Mothers of Invention.” Slicton explains that it is about the inventions women made even before they were allowed rights or any kind of ownership. She chose this film to start because it coincides with the National Women’s History Project’s theme for the year 2013 which is focused on science, technology and innovation.
On March 12, the documentary “Triangle Fire: The Tragedy That Forever Changed the Labor Industry,” will be shown documenting the horrific fire that occurred 100 years ago when 146 garment workers were killed when their employer locked them inside a factory. Slicton says that the documentary also focuses on how immigrant women, low income women and women of color are working in risky environments even today in other countries.
The March 19 event is a celebration of the new Women in Transition Center in order for people to come and see it and to discuss the grassroots story about the origin of women’s centers and why we have them.
Lastly, March 26, there will be an encore showing of “Miss Representation” for students who could not come earlier and wanted to see it.
“I think it helps make that connection between all of the issues that we’ve been talking about,” said Slicton. “About visibility, having a voice and having a say all the while it seems like culture would like us to be preoccupied with the way we look and to be quiet. We want to see that, we want to make that connection.”
“I would hope that there is a broader appreciation of the different ways women contribute,” said Slicton. “The other side of this is the work that needs to be done, recognizing the problems and a path for the future. So for all of us there needs to be some sense of self-assessment.”
