When the first University class was taught 200 years ago, women were not allowed to enroll. The University first allowed summer instruction for women in 1880, but did not admit women until 1970, and was not fully coeducational until 1972. Since then, there have been many notable female alumni, including Dawn Staley, head coach of the women’s basketball team at the University of South Carolina, Meredith Kopit Levien, chief executive officer and president of the New York Times, Tina Fey, film and television actress, writer and producer and Katie Couric, broadcast journalist for CBS and NBC News.
This month, a variety of University offices will host several events aimed to honor the collective impact women have had on the University and the many ways women are shaping the present and the future across Grounds and around the world. All of these events are free and open to all who wish to attend.
One popular medium used this year to celebrate women’s history is art, as the University has listed on its Women’s History webpage multiple events where art aims to celebrate women and their accomplishments.
An art exhibit entitled “Portraits of Her” will be showcased at the Multicultural Student Center on the second floor of Newcomb Hall March 26 beginning at 6 p.m. This collection, compiled by Multicultural Student Services, will celebrate students’ creativity by displaying art pieces created by students which honor influential women from history or their own personal lives.
The Fralin Museum of Art is also holding multiple exhibitions throughout the month of March that honor significant female artists. An exhibition honoring Joan Mitchell, a leading painter of the Abstract Expressionist movement of the 20th century, and her success in a largely male dominated art world will be on display this month and will be available for viewing through July.
Another display at the Fralin will showcase the work of Puebloan potter Jody Folwell and will be available for viewing through June. According to the event page, Folwell is widely considered among the most significant and influential clay artists of her generation due to her innovative form, content and design.
Iris Magazine is a University Women’s Center sponsored publication that celebrates and empowers young women and underscores the relevance of women’s issues — Susannah Baker, Iris magazine student assistant intern and fourth-year College student, spoke about the magazine’s mission to support women and create change and her experience writing for it.
“It’s a really empowering space where we get to learn how to use our voices,” Baker said. “It’s a really good community and space to learn how to express ourselves.”
Baker said that working with mentors in the Women’s Center through a class, called ‘Front Lines of Social Change,’ that all Women’s Center interns must take helped her and other interns use their voices to promote feminism and their views of the world.
Baker also said that she appreciates how the Women’s Center has created a space outside of classes where she is able to express herself and collaborate with other writers. She said that the Iris community has been supportive and caring, and has become like a second home for her on Grounds.
“I have challenged myself in a lot of ways, like exploring poetry and really personal essays, and it’s really great to have encouragement from all the other writers and all the editors,” Baker said. “I don’t know what my college experience would be like without Iris and the Women’s Center.”
Hoo’s Cooking will host a class featuring recipes from influential American chef Julia Child at the U.Va. Teaching Kitchen inside the Student Health and Wellness Building March 27. According to the website, students will have the opportunity to sharpen their cooking skills while learning about Child and her impact on the culinary world.
The final event listed on the Women’s History webpage is the Women in Data Science Conference, hosted at the School of Data Science March 28. Women in Data Science Charlottesville is an organization that strives to increase participation of women in data science and to celebrate influential women in the field. This year’s conference will focus on inspiring the next generation of women in data science.
Baker said that she believes the Women’s Center and Iris magazine has helped women be seen by creating content that explores topics that might not otherwise be discussed outside these spaces.
“I have felt really seen by a lot of the pieces that I’ve read from Iris, and I think that over the years a lot of women have also felt that way,” Baker said.
A previous version of this article had incorrectly stated that the University’s Women Center were co-sponsoring all of the events listed in the article. The events are independent of the Women’s Center. The article has been updated to reflect this change.
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