Last Monday, March 30 saw a record turnout at the 6th annual Women’s Day Gala, hosted by the Women’s Resource Center (WRC) and held in the ELC’s Terrace Room. Founded in 1987, the Women’s Resource Center has long centered advocacy, education and empowerment on campus, and the annual gala is both a means of celebration and a call to action. The theme this year was “Ride for Her: A Global Rodeo Gala,” and over one hundred people were in attendance.
In line with the rodeo theme, attendees were encouraged to dress in a Country Western theme, with “Cowboy Carter vibes” and hats, boots and “full giddy-up” as the goal. Each table was intentionally decorated with international flags and conversation starters about global rodeo traditions, while miniature cowboy hats, handmade by the WRC committee using Pringles containers and balloons, sat beside gift bags. However, the attention to detail did not stop there: A dessert display labeled “The Sweet Spot” showcased a two-tier western-themed buttercream cake beneath marquee “WRC” lights.
Student presenters gave information about international rodeo and cattle traditions, pulling from Brazil, West Africa, the Caribbean and the United States cities of Chicago, Oakland and Houston. Inspired by those international sources, the WRC provided an array of food and dancing that aligned with themes of community. Senegalese Yassa chicken and Jamaican rice and peas were among the food highlights. “We laughed. We danced. We flexed,” said Associate Director of Gender and Sexuality Resources and Women’s Resources Ree Joseph, “But tonight was not just a themed celebration. Everything was intentional.”
On top of those student presentations, the WRC invited the Silhouettes, Bucknell’s all-woman a cappella group, to perform. Later in the night, the Bisonnettes Dance Team gave a follow-up performance, a trail ride line dance set to the song “Flex” that got everyone in the Terrace Room onto the dance floor.
Assistant Catholic Campus Minister, Timothy Ledna, was impressed by the event’s entire vibe: “How much detail went into the decorations [and] everything we ate was so good. It’s obvious [WRC] worked hard to make the space and time special.”
Vice President for Student Affairs and Fritz Family Dean of Students, Dr. Moe McGuinness, also praised the event. “I loved every detail from the cowboy hats made out of Pringles [set out on the tables] to the Photo Areas and everything in between!”
She concluded the evening with a reminder for attendees to sit with: “Across cultures, rodeo traditions share one truth: no one rides alone. Not in the desert. Not on the savanna. Not in urban arenas. And not here.”
Joseph, who has now led the event for two years, additionally elected to expand International Women’s Day into a full International Women’s Month this year, collaborating with student organizations such as the African Caribbean Student Association to host additional global programming throughout March. “I didn’t want it to just be one day,” she said. “International Women’s Day is global. So our programming should reflect that global scale.”
“When women thrive,” Joseph says, “the culture shifts.”
