ASU’s HERstory committee will be rolling out a “Badass Women of Arizona State University” campaign during Women’s History Month celebrated in March.
The campaign will be honoring ASU faculty, staff, students and alumna who are doing impressive things in their fields and in their lives.
The HERstory committee is run by the Womyn’s Coalition at ASU, which is one of seven coalitions on campus that serve to unify many of ASU’s student-run clubs.
Alexandra Wyroba, the director of communications for Womyn's Coalition, said there are a lot of different clubs involved in the organization throughout the year, but especially during the planning of HERstory Month.
Wyroba said some of the clubs involved include Barrett the Honors College, Barrett Women's League, VOX: Voices for Planned Parenthood, Woman as Hero, Women's Veterans Club and many more.
“WoCo is willing to do anything and everything to let everyone know what is going on throughout campus that supports gender equality and the continuous advancement for women,” she said.
Wyroba said the coalition has monthly general body meetings.
“Being a feminist group, we work towards giving everyone an equal voice,” she said.
Wyroba said ASU is the perfect place for women to thrive and become ‘badass women.’
“ASU, along with Womyn's Coalition, gives you the support and space to share your First Amendment rights and bring awareness to the issues that have been seen throughout history,” she said. "The best part about ASU is that anyone can be a ‘badass’ towards equality and changing stereotypes, as long as they try.”
Accountancy junior Taylor Coco is one of the ASU students serving on the HERstory committee who helped develop the Badass Women campaign.
“We really wanted to focus on women at ASU and in Sun Devil nation who are doing incredible things and should be recognized for it,” she said.
Coco said she and the rest of the committee wanted to celebrate powerful women who are and creating a new path for others.
“Instead of focusing on the history of women, it’s going to be focusing on what women are doing present day and how they’re making history,” she said.
Coco said all nominees will receive a token of recognition, and some of the nominees will be announced and honored throughout the month of March. The chosen nominees will be featured on social media, Her Campus magazine, and at HERstory events.
Coco also said other events that will be hosted throughout the month include the Survivor Walk, which will honor women who have suffered through domestic violence, as well as professional clothing and phone drives for women’s shelters.
Shantel Marekera, a justice studies sophomore working on the campaign, said the nominations were left open so all different kinds of women could be recognized.
“We try to make room where people can think of their own conceptions of what they think is a badass woman,” she said.
Marekera said it is important to honor people from different backgrounds and professions, because being "badass" means different things to different people.
“Someone is not a badass woman because they are only good at one thing,“ she said.
Reach the reporter at jctower@asu.edu or follow @tower_jo on Twitter.
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