The Women and Gender Resource Center recognizes a variety of holistic well-being issues through week and month-long celebrations.
To see upcoming awareness events planned by the WGRC, visit our Calendar of Events.
Each October, The Women and Gender Resource Center recognizes Dating and Domestic Violence Awareness by hosting a variety of educational programs. Past events have included a candle light vigil honoring victims and survivors, student led panels on media portrayals of domestic violence, and relevant film screenings.
Each October, The Women and Gender Resource Center places Honor and Remembrance Trees around campus to allow members of the campus community to recognize loved ones who have been affected by Breast Cancer. In 2020, we also hosted an event started by our Student Leadership Council a year prior, Blankets and Brownies, in which volunteer make tie blankets for patients at DCH’s Manderson Cancer Center.
Each February, the WGRC and campus partners recognize Body Appreciation Week. Body Appreciation Week explores the importance of love and acceptance of every body. We focus on activities that empower people within their bodies, while addressing body image’s influence on mental health and self-worth. We have hosted events that highlight issues across cultures and events that focus on the mind-body connection.
In 2024, we hosted Canva & Chamomile, an event in which students created body positive collages on Canva with student group BAMA CHAARG. We also hosted a What Makes You Beautiful Photoshoot to provide the university photo shelter with more inclusive photos. We continue to focus on empowerment, strength, and acceptance of all bodies. In 2019, we hosted a public reading of excerpts from The Good Body by Eve Ensler. In 2022 we hosted a panel about the stigma, historical context, and cultural signficance of tattoos.
Each April, The Women and Gender Resource Center recognizes Sexual Assault Awareness by hosting a variety of educational programs. Take Back the Night events are held across the country to unify communities to take a stand against gender based violence. Our Wounded Hearts art exhibit offers visual testimony to the impact of violence in our lives. Survivors and those who work with them are invited to use wooden hearts as vehicles of expression and healing. This inspiring exhibit invites everyone to bear witness and honor the healing power of the human heart. In April 2023, the WGRC developed a new signature event, Survivors Bloom from Within, that offers mindfulness activities and information about a variety of campus and community resources that can be helpful to survivors of interpersonal violence.
