Celebrate Saint Mary's Pride
By NAKASHA AHMAD
Saint Mary's Pride Week.
What does it mean to you?
For those of you new to Saint Mary's or who don't know, Saint Mary's Pride Day started two years ago. On a bright fall day, a letter was published in The Observer by two Notre Dame women, calling us "parasites," among other things. The campus community, understandably upset, organized Saint Mary's Pride Day to celebrate the women of Saint Mary's. And so was born a new College tradition. The event was such a success that last year Saint Mary's established Pride Week, an entire week devoted to Saint Mary's and its uniqueness. This week is the Second Annual Saint Mary's Pride Week. Yesterday was the third Pride Day.
So, what does it mean, to have a Saint Mary's Pride Week?
It means that we recognize, acknowledge and celebrate that we go to a women's college. We celebrate the fact that we are unique because we are a women's college and we celebrate our environment. For most of us, this is the first — and probably last — time that we will spend four years in the company of women. We live with women, eat with women, learn with women, grow with women. While college is a growing experience for most people, going to a women's college is all the more so. Saint Mary's Pride Week gives us an opportunity to formally appreciate that quality. This is what it means to be proud of Saint Mary's.
We have spent this week celebrating our athletes, our majors and all of the women who contribute to our campus. As well we should.
However, as part of a women's college, we should also acknowledge and support women less fortunate and show solidarity with them. And as part of that solidarity, "Take Back the Woods" is being organized, a takeoff of the "Take Back the Night" marches. What does it mean to "take back the night?"
"Take Back the Night" marches were begun by victims of domestic violence and sexual assault. The idea behind "Take Back the Night" marches was to have these women to march in solidarity, to "take back" the night from attackers, from assaults and from fear. As women, and especially as women at a women's college, we need to recognize the seriousness of this issue and that it can happen to any woman. Even here at Saint Mary's, we are not safe walking alone at night. Ostensibly, a women's campus is the one place where we should feel safe and in control. But even here we can't.
So, one of the events that ends Saint Mary's Pride Week and begins the YWCA's Week Without Violence is our own takeoff of the "Take Back the Night" marches. This Sunday, we hope to "Take Back the Woods" at Saint Mary's. The march will lead into the woods, with women singing and performing dances symbolizing women's connection to the earth. Afterwards, there will be a bonfire and refreshments!
So, you ask, why on earth should I show up for this march? Because this is Saint Mary's Pride Week, and it means that we shouldn't just be proud of Saint Mary's women — we (and this means men too!) should take a stand for all women. The fact that in 1999 women cannot walk alone without fear on a women's campus is disheartening. It is sad. It is ludicrous. And unfortunately, it is true. "Take Back the Woods" gives us the opportunity to take a stand, to not be intimidated. It gives victims a way to release their fears.
Most people have participated in the Pride Day events — the field games, the pep rally, wearing the ribbons. But this march might be the most important event of Saint Mary's Pride Week.
Show your support for all women. Take back the woods.
Nakasha Ahmad is a senior at Saint Mary's. Her column appears every other Thursday.
The views expressed in this column are those of the author and not necessarily those of the Observer.
All Viewpoint Stories for Thursday, October 7, 1999
