{"280041":{"#nid":"280041","#data":{"type":"news","title":"March Activities Put Spotlight on Women\u2019s Issues","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EIt\u2019s March, and that means it\u2019s Women\u2019s Awareness Month at Georgia Tech.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe program, now in its 16th year, has become so established that many people don\u2019t realize it\u2019s a student-run initiative specifically for Tech, said Melanie DeMaeyer, coordinator of the Women\u2019s Resource Center (WRC).\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWomen, Science, and Technology (WST) always partners with us, but other activities will pop up that we may not even know about that\u2019ll say \u2018In Honor of Women\u2019s Awareness Month,\u2019\u201d DeMaeyer said. \u201cIt\u2019s always interesting to see that.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWomen\u2019s Awareness Month is sponsored by the WRC and is designed to bring attention to women\u2019s issues that might otherwise go unexplored on a predominantly male, technology-focused campus, said Melissa Gerrior, a graduate assistant in the WRC who served as advisor for this year\u2019s student planning committee.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cBecause Tech is such a STEM [science, technology, engineering, and mathematics] institution, there isn\u2019t a lot of discussion surrounding more activist-y kind of issues,\u201d Gerrior said. \u201cSo, we want the student body to be more informed about things like sexual violence, body image, and living in a society that sometimes marginalizes women.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EEvents can and do vary from year to year, but several have become \u201csignature\u201d programs, DeMaeyer said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESome years, like this one, the month actually kicks off in late February with Women\u2019s Night on the Wall, a joint initiative with the Georgia Tech Campaign for EveryBODY.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EOther events include Women\u2019s Day of Service (March 1), \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.calendar.gatech.edu\/event\/271871\u0022\u003EThe Vagina Monologues\u003C\/a\u003E (March 9-10), the \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.calendar.gatech.edu\/event\/271881\u0022\u003EClothesline Project\u003C\/a\u003E (March 24-26), and \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.calendar.gatech.edu\/event\/271891\u0022\u003ETake Back the Night\u003C\/a\u003E (March 25).\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ETo mark Women\u2019s Awareness Month on the academic side, WST, in cooperation with the School of History, Technology, and Society, is hosting a research panel to discuss \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.calendar.gatech.edu\/event\/262221\u0022\u003EWomen in the Middle East and South Asia\u003C\/a\u003E (March 7) and a talk by \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.calendar.gatech.edu\/event\/260131\u0022\u003EDistinguished Lecturer Fiona Murray\u003C\/a\u003E (March 27).\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EPerennially, DeMaeyer said, the most popular event for both men and women has to be Take Back the Night. Held at the Campanile and attended by anywhere between 400 to 600 students a year, Take Back the Night is a candlelight vigil to honor survivors of sexual assault and educate the campus community about issues related to rape and sexual violence.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cI think folks come together to really support their friends who are speaking out,\u2019\u201d DeMaeyer said. \u201cYou\u2019ll have everyone from faculty to campus administrators and students out there, and you\u2019ll have whole Greek organizations or other student groups come if somebody from their organization is speaking out. It\u2019s just a really great program that shows the community of support that survivors have on our campus.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWomen\u2019s Awareness Month grew out of the desire to \u201creally put women out front\u201d at a time when women weren\u2019t as well represented at Tech as they are now, DeMaeyer said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cNow, I really think it serves as an opportunity to help us create a strong community of women,\u201d she added.\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EIt\u2019s March, and that means it\u2019s Women\u2019s Awareness Month at Georgia Tech.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"It\u2019s March, and that means it\u2019s Women\u2019s Awareness Month at Georgia Tech."}],"uid":"27445","created_gmt":"2014-03-03 15:37:26","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:15:55","author":"Amelia Pavlik","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2014-03-03T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2014-03-03T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"280011":{"id":"280011","type":"image","title":"Take Back the Night","body":null,"created":"1449244184","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 15:49:44","changed":"1475894973","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:49:33","alt":"Take Back the Night","file":{"fid":"198894","name":"tbn_030314.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tbn_030314_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tbn_030314_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":3354696,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/tbn_030314_0.jpg?itok=SAAfExpz"}}},"media_ids":["280011"],"groups":[{"id":"1259","name":"Whistle"}],"categories":[{"id":"129","name":"Institute and Campus"}],"keywords":[{"id":"59801","name":"March"},{"id":"1979","name":"Take Back the Night"},{"id":"4783","name":"Women\u0027s Awareness Month"},{"id":"4786","name":"women\u0027s resource center"},{"id":"1978","name":"WRC"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71871","name":"Campus and Community"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:margaret.tate@comm.gatech.edu\u0022\u003EMargaret Tate\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EInstitute Communications\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}