Robert Soares and Alexis Kramer made sure everything went smoothly and that guests had a great time during the Honoring Empowered Women Reception on Tuesday night at the Downtown Phoenix Campus. (Photo by Brittany Schmus)
HERstory University board celebrated women in leadership roles Tuesday night at the Downtown campus with inspirational speakers, food and live music.
HE(W)R, which stands for Honoring Empowered Women Reception, is one of the final events to celebrate the student-led initiative Women's HERstory month.
The HERstory University board held the event to create an environment in which students could network with one another and potentially learn and share experiences. The event also aims to inspire students to feel empowered and overcome any adversities.
Rosemarie Dombrowski, who teaches creative writing at ASU, shared a poem at the event. Dombrowski said she began teaching at 24 and had to overcome many adversities.
“Being a woman and looking extraordinarily young, it was very hard to gain the respect of the students, even though I felt like I had the knowledge of craft, and I had the intelligence and the presence to carry it off. There was just that stigma. ... I felt like I was clawing my way out of that abyss for the better part of graduate school,” she said.
Through teaching her literature and creative writing courses, Dombrowski said she hopes to be an influence on students.
“I hope that I can be an inspiration to all the young women that I teach, and I also hope that I can transform some of the young men that I come into contact with," she said. "I work really hard every day to do both.”
Alexis Kramer, head of the HERstory University Board at the Downtown campus, said it is a great opportunity for students to network with each other.
“Being that we are such a diverse campus, everyone has such a unique story and this is the place where we want to create the conversation,” she said.
Kramer, who is also running for undergraduate student government president of the Downtown campus, said that her affiliation with USG encouraged her to become a part of theHERstory University Board.
Kramer said she hopes students can be inspired by the event and feel empowered in whatever they do.
“It doesn’t necessarily have to be something professional, whether you have a personal goal or trying to be something that you know is out of your comfort zone” she said. “Definitely, I would encourage students to step out of your comfort zone learn your strengths and weaknesses."
Psychology senior Jordan Hibbs also spoke at the event. She said she hopes that through HE(W)R, students will be inspired to be more active on and off campus.
“I hope to inspire at least one person in that room to go out and do something that they wouldn’t typically do,” she said.
Reach the reporter at rashinda.bankhead@asu.edu or follower her on Twitter @rashindaa
