Hello and thank you for joining us in remembering fourteen women who were brutally killed and many other lives impacted by an act of hatred.
We think of schools as safe places where we learn, grow, realize our potential, and take steps towards progress as humanity, towards a brighter future. School was made unsafe for these women by an act of hatred. Someone hating their gender, hating their progress in a male-dominated field, hating feminism.
Thanks for being here. For staying safe and for making our community and school safe. A place we love and hatred has no place. A community safe for Indigenous peoples, a community safe for people of color, safe for gay, lesbian, transgender, and LGBTQIA members of our community, safe for those believing in different religions, safe for progress, safe for women, safe for feminists.
We do not have to look the same way, express ourselves the same way, fall in love the same way, or live our lives the same way to be able to understand, respect, and support each other.
Diversity is our strength. Let the memory of these women help us embrace our strength and take stronger steps towards a safer, more inclusive, more equitable, and more just future.
Representing Academic Women at SVSPO Event on Dec 6, 2021