Diversity and Variety Chair, Lavender Shipp, holds up a pack of materials used to make bracelets, used for her Women’s Empowerment Bracelet Crafting, held on Tuesday, March, 21st. Photo taken by Isabella Morman I The All State.
Empowering women is essential for the health and social development of families, communities, and surrounding countries. To encourage this, Lavender Shipp created the Women’s Empowerment Bracelet Crafting Event, which was held this past Tuesday in the Morgan University Center’s room 306/308.
Shipp said, “The main goal was to create an environment where the students and staff of Austin Peay can come in and show the appreciation we have for those empowering women. Not only to support the hard work they’re known for putting forth but also for their joyous presence. We all encounter tons of amazing women but rarely take the time to dedicate something specifically to them. This event demonstrated the right time and environment to do so. “
Aside from bracelet-making being a great activity for hand-eye coordination, crafts like this also help fine motor, visual perceptual, and sorting skills. It was easy to see why bracelets were chosen as the craft item, as bracelets have been used for showing identity and representing personal passions all throughout history.
When planning the event, Shipp asked herself, “What could students and staff of a large campus create that isn’t a tedious process? What is something that everyone can have that reminds them of where they are and the amount of dedication it took to get there? And crafting bracelets was the one thing that stood out that isn’t time-consuming that involves the participants creating something that signifies them and where they are today.”
While some people do have positive role models in their life or a female figure they can look up to, that is not the same for everyone.
Advisor of the Govs Programming Council Advisor, MaryGrace Johnson, said, “For me personally, I feel that growing up I always looked up to women that were just a few years older than me, and I had some sort of connection with. I would definitely say that is the type of woman I try to be myself. In addition to that, I think the events on Austin Peay’s campus this month do a really great job of highlighting and recentering our student body of looking back toward the women in their lives that are making an impact because a lot of times you leave home and you got to college, and you are just excited to be away from your parents. I think that time also helps you realize a little bit that a lot of times those female influences in our lives like our moms, our grandmother, and things like that have really prepared us to go off on our own so, I think this month is a great way to highlight that as well as looking around and seeing the women in our own community at Austin Peay.”
With everything going on to celebrate this month, Shipp commented, “I would hope that whoever attends those events gets the reassurance and appreciation they deserve. Not all of us are able to say ‘I have motivating women in my life that encourage me to keep going.’ So, I hope that they now know that they are appreciated, they are valued, they are heard, and that I and tons of others believe in them and are extremely proud of them and the obstacles they’ve overcome.”
Future events will include Women’s Empowerment Month Yoga, Machismo Hurts Men Too, and more that can be found on Peaylink or on PeayMobile by clicking the events tab.
