Women’s Week is a series of events on which Shades of Ebony have collaborated with the Gender Relations Center since the Spring of 2013. Our collaboration began in honor of the 40th anniversary of coeducation at Notre Dame. Since then, Women’s Week has become an annual event, and both Shades and the GRC are looking forward to its growth both this year and in the future. Women’s Week 2016 will take place from March 14th through March 20th. This year’s theme is “Working to Form a More Perfect Union: Honoring Women in Public Service and Government” and the events are as follows:
Monday, March 14th: Nonprofit Event
- We will kick off Women’s Week by bringing representatives from different nonprofit organizations in South Bend to campus to talk about their experiences in the nonprofit sector. The middle and high school students from our Girls of Shades Mentor Program will also be in attendance and will have the opportunity to sign up to get involved in their community at these different organizations.
Tuesday, March 15th: 2nd Annual Cafemme
- This event will bring together different multicultural groups on campus for a night of poetry, music, dance, and other performances. This year, the performances will honor the stories of women from various cultures around the world. There will also be a display of visual arts at the event. The event will be free but donations will be accepted to support female entrepreneurs globally.
Wednesday, March 16th: 4th Annual Celebration of Women Dinner
- The main event of the week will take place on Wednesday night and will be a dinner at 6:30pm in McKenna Hall, featuring guest speakers who will share about their experiences in public service, particularly in the public sector (government).
Thursday, March 17th: Luncheon
- This informal luncheon will be an opportunity for female student leaders to interact with prominent women from eight different sectors: law, academic, military, business, STEM, arts, education, and nonprofit.
Friday, March 18th and Saturday, March 19th
- On Friday and Saturday, we will be working to spread awareness about the successes and contributions of women in our lives. We will encourage students to wear purple on Friday in honor of women and to take a picture in solidarity. On Saturday, we will be hosting a social media campaign in which students, faculty, staff, and family members will be asked to post about inspirational women in their own lives.
Sunday, March 20th: Prayer Service
- We will end the week with a prayer service that will bring together local ministries and the Notre Dame campus in fellowship.
Co-Sponsored by The Gender Studies Program
"Shades of Ebony is an organization founded by black women at the University of Notre Dame to unify, empower, and inspire women of all shades through engaging dialogue and service in the South Bend community. We sculpt the intellectual, spiritual, and social experiences of women through fellowship within a sisterhood of inclusion."