Vanderbilt honored Women’s History Month throughout the month of March with various events, including free book giveaways, financial wellness workshops, speaker events and community celebrations. The month-long celebration was hosted by the Margaret Cunningham Women’s Center and campus partners.

Throughout March, there were daily opportunities for students, faculty and staff to engage with topics celebrating women through events such as the Director’s dinner, Women in STEM panel and symposium and Black Student Leadership Conference. 

Sophomore Ann Moon, an intern at the Women’s Center, described organizing the month.

“We do a lot of cool, cute and fun stuff, ranging from crocheting and financial workshops to giving out free books on Fridays and having guest speakers address important social issues, all of which focus on empowering and celebrating women and uplifting gender equity,” Moon said.

Director’s dinner

The Recreation and Wellness Center held this year’s Women’s History Month Director’s Dinner on March 26 to explore how food can be a gateway to building community, understanding culture and promoting well-being. The event was organized by Krystal Cheng, a HOD Capstone Intern, as part of her larger capstone initiative, “taste, connect thrive — a human-centered approach to food, culture, and wellness.”

“Food is profoundly tied to identity, belonging and well-being — especially for international and graduate students who often struggle to find culturally meaningful connections on campus,” Cheng said. 

Cheng focused the dinner on the achievements of prominent women in the culinary world by giving guests storytelling prompts and leading themed trivia to invite them to reflect on how food can connect us to our personal stories, heritage and each other. The menu featured dishes inspired by renowned female chefs. 

“I’m truly grateful for the community’s enthusiastic participation,” Cheng said. “With support from partners like Kenny Moore and VU Catering, we were able to bring this vision to life in a way that felt meaningful and inclusive.”

First-year Chloe Jeon said she was impressed that the menus were entirely created and prepared by women chefs. She believes the event showcased women’s culinary talents, a field that has been historically underrepresented.  

“I’m grateful for opportunities like the director’s dinner as it was truly a special experience for me to appreciate the contributions women have been making in numerous fields,” Jeon said.

Jeon also said the trivia was a great way of sparking important conversations about women that are not normally held. 

“Women’s History Month continuously serves as a powerful reminder of the incredible achievements and resilience of women. During this time, we should reflect on the progress we have made and acknowledge the challenges that are still present,” Jeon said. “I attended this dinner with my friends as a step towards supporting gender equality, and I have been inspired to continue advocating for women’s rights and empowerment.”

Women in STEM panel and symposium

The Women in STEM panel and symposium on March 21 focused on amplifying women’s voices and belonging in science fields through discussions with STEM professionals. Speakers included Charreau Bell (PhD’ 18) and Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition specialist Maribeth Nicholson. 

First-year Sellome Haile attended the event, and remarked on the difference that representation can make in a person’s life. 

“When you provide spaces for women, it gives us room to become better versions of ourselves, create communities that uplift each other and make life-long relationships,” Haile said.  

Black Student Leadership Conference

The Inaugural Vanderbilt Black Student Leadership Conference, organized by the Black Student Association, held workshops on March 22 to examine the lived realities of being both Black and a woman in leadership roles. The workshops focused on addressing systemic challenges such as implicit bias, burnout and exclusion while also celebrating the resilience, innovation and impact that Black women bring to spaces they often have to fight to enter. 

Junior Sonji Hargrove, director of the conference, expressed enthusiasm towards the event. 

“Now more than ever, it is important for us to connect with each other, build community and remind ourselves that we are not alone,” Hargrove said.  “I also think [the workshops] give students — especially Black women — a renewed sense of agency and clarity on how to lead authentically.” 

Other student reactions

Senior Soumia Vellanki, who is president of Women in Business, said she is grateful to learn from the ambitious, service-minded women on the WIB Programming Board and channel these lessons into feminist practices. She said she is especially inspired by Reshma Saujani, a lawyer, activist and the founder of Girls Who Code. 

“Especially in a time of rising attacks on [diversity, equity and inclusion], I remain committed to the power of affinity spaces and am inspired by voices like Saujani’s call to ‘teach girls bravery, not perfection,’” Vellanki said.

Junior Anna Njie, co-president of Sankofa, Vanderbilt’s African drum and dance ensemble group, and planner of their women history month book club on March 17,  highlighting “The Bluest Eye” by Toni Morrison, shared the importance of the month to her.

“I hoped to use this invaluable month to foster productive discussion about how marginalized women operate, resist and thrive in the face of compounding factors of adversity,” Njie said. 

First-year Isra Siddiki, who attended Feeling Free to Move on March 6 — a panel discussion on women, safety and life outdoors that honored the memory of alumna Alyssa Lokits — said she left the event feeling slightly more hopeful about the future. 

“As a woman of color, being able to set a foundation to be acknowledged in some aspect of my identity that I share with others, means everything to me,” Siddiki said. “Setting this ground, even in simple acknowledgments, is the way to support even further disadvantaged women or those that are discriminated against.”