When the student managers of the Crozier Center for Women started thinking about what programming to offer for Women’s History Month this year, they were drawn to the observance’s roots.
That, according to co-manager Silvia Carias-Centeno ’25, has to do with “revolutionary activism” by working class women.
“In our current political climate, we wanted to do programming that could help emphasize to students that any type of revolutionary or political work begins with you,” Carias-Centeno said.
In that spirit, the center's activities will kick off Thursday, March 20, with a tabling event in Peirce Hall distributing issue-oriented stickers and zines, including some related to reproductive rights. It’s meant to encourage students to get involved politically and serve as an invitation to speak up.
“At Kenyon, we (develop) a strong sense of voice, and we’re supposed to use that voice to advocate for what we believe in,” co-manager Amelia Proweller ’26 said.
It’s important, she continued, that marginalized voices like women, femmes and those with intersectional identities speak up and be heard.
Other events will feature discussions about representation politics. For example, a screening of the influential 1990 documentary “Paris Is Burning” about the drag scene in New York City will touch on questions about exploitation and other issues that made the film controversial. This event on March 28 will start at 4 p.m. in Oden Hall’s Archon Auditorium with Assistant Professor of Gender and Sexuality Studies Jessica Pruett leading the discussion.
The center will organize a screening in April of a second documentary, 2023’s “Kokomo City,” which featured and was written and directed by Black trans people, offering a more holistic representation and complex portrayal of experiences with oppression, Carias-Centeno said.
The Crozier Center also plans on bringing speaker Sophie Sandberg to campus for a workshop on April 5. A gender justice activist and multimedia artist, Sandberg is the founder of Catcalls of NYC, an initiative that shares stories of gender-based street harassment with chalk art, and the international youth-led movement Chalk Back.
An exhibit on the evolution of Black feminism — featuring early and contemporary Black feminist intellectuals and their contributions to the movement — is in the works as well, with details to come.
“We’re hoping to have this be a good historical and political introduction to what Black feminism is for campus,” Carias-Centeno said.
Some other programming is taking place for Women's History Month as well. Sisterhood, a group dedicated to women of color, is hosting Weaver Wednesday on March 19 at 3 p.m. and its formal will take place on March 29.
Kennedey Bell, interim coordinator of strategic initiatives in the Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, said events like these are essential at a time when a number of recent national political decisions have targeted women, femmes and nonbinary people, especially those from marginalized backgrounds. Supporting such programs serves as an extension of our values and commitment to justice, Bell said.
“This Women’s History Month, I encourage our community to attend the thoughtful and enriching events organized by student organizations,” they said. “These moments offer opportunities not just to observe but to engage — deepening our understanding, strengthening our connections, and reaffirming our collective commitment to equity and inclusion.”
This year’s celebration will be the first done in conjunction with the Crozier Center’s new programming board, which formed in February after Carias-Centeno and Proweller asked seven other students to join in an effort to bring expanded perspectives to the center’s programming.
The mission of the Crozier Center for Women is to be a safe space for all people to discuss and think critically about gender and gender identity and expression. Named for Doris Crozier, the first and only dean of Kenyon’s Coordinate College for Women from 1969-1972, it was founded in 1986.