To mark March as Women’s History Month, the UCSD Feminist Majority Leadership Alliance set up a display on March 5 that spanned Library Walk, featuring both well-known and lesser-known women from around the world. The FMLA’s table also asked passersby to sign abortion rights petitions advocating filibuster in the event of the appointment of a nanti-abortion advocate to the Supreme Court.
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“”With new Supreme Court justices to be nominated soon, Roe v. Wade could be overturned,”” said FMLA member Lauren Kwon.
According to Corinne Hart, president of UCSD’s division of FMLA, the group is hoping to collect over 1,000 signatures and drop them off at Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s (D-CA) office. Feinstein is currently on the Senate Judiciary Committee, which makes her a key recipient of the FMLA’s petition.
“”We need senators on the judiciary committee to ask nominees whether or not they’re pro-choice,”” Hart said. “”Right now, senators are afraid to ask, and if no one asks, then we won’t know, and they could get an extremist justice on the Supreme Court.””
The FMLA’s display included dozens of posters of women accompanied by short biographies for passersby to read.
“”We tried to choose women who aren’t necessarily that well-known,”” Hart said. “”We just want people to know that women were always there alongside men making history, but not always being acknowledged for doing so.””
Posters included not only such famous figures as Virginia Woolf, but also more contemporary figures, such as singer Ani DiFranco and actress Halle Berry. Other featured women included UCSD professor of physics Sally Ride, who became the first woman on a space shuttle in 1983.
“”Our whole goal is just to show people that feminism is a mainstream ideology and that most people are feminists,”” Hart said.
Hart said that while more men signed their petitions than women during their Roe v. Wade celebration, she felt it was hard to make men see equality as their issue.
Women’s History Month will continue until spring break with events sponsored by the Women’s Center. According to the Women’s Center director Emelyn Dela Pena, coordinating a cohesive campuswide celebration of Women’s History Month at UCSD has been difficult because of the quarter system, which keeps students in finals and on break for much of March.
Upcoming events include “”A Woman’s Voice,”” a free theatrical performance tracing the role of women in music featuring Dorothy Marcic on March 7 at 6 p.m. in the Price Center. Another event co-sponsored by the Women’s Center is an induction ceremony for the San Diego County Women’s Hall of Fame on March 22 at 5:30 p.m. in the Price Center Ballroom.
