Last Wednesday, Andrews University held a joint collaboration with Lake Michigan College to put on an event seeking to honor various women who hold leadership roles in the Southwest Michigan community. The event featured Laura Goos (St.Joseph mayor), Dr. Danielle Pilgrim (Andrews University Chaplain), Stephanie Ott (owner of Base Bowls & Company), and many more female entrepreneurs and leaders. The event presented Princella Tobias (Benton Spirit publisher), Chelsea Lake (WAUS Announcer), and Andrea Luxton (first female Andrews president) with appreciation awards and also held a panel discussion on the struggles that women experience every day along with their unique insights. Nicholas Gunn (freshman, education) originally came up with the idea to hold this event as a member of the Andrews University Community Engagement council, as well as an Equity and Inclusion Ambassador for Lake Michigan College. I talked to him this week about his intentions while planning the event and he reflected on how he felt it went.
What is the event that you organized?
The name of the event we planned was called ‘Speaking Up With Women’ and was a collaboration between Andrews University and Lake Michigan College. It’s basically a celebration of women who are leaders in our community.
How did you think of this event and what inspired you?
The Dean of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion At Lake Michigan College (Cam Herth) and I were talking about ways we could celebrate and embrace the many achievements of women in our community. I started to think about all the outstanding women who serve our community that I've been blessed to know and so together we tried to think of ways to showcase their expertise, which basically led to the idea for this celebratory event.
What was your role in planning this event and who did you work with?
I led this event in terms of planning but I made it a priority to keep every decision open to both of our great Diversity, Equity & Inclusion offices. Vice President Nixon and Dean Herth were extremely helpful with their experience and leadership.
Who was the event for? What is its purpose?
The event was open to everyone, including students, faculty, and the public. The purpose of the event was to show everyone the great impact that women have around us.
Who are your biggest female inspirations or female role models?
The very women that were in the room inspire me daily. They are all trailblazers in the work they do, and I hope to become a man that will work hard to echo equality in all things I encounter.
How would you say the event went?
I think the event went great and what we set out to reach was obtained. I took a lot of great pictures of the event, too.
What were some of the challenges or difficulties with putting on the event?
We had major difficulties with planning besides scheduling things that would work for everyone's schedule because there were so many people involved.
What did you enjoy most about the event?
I enjoyed seeing so many great women collaborate and come together to celebrate each other, and also be able to inform others, including myself, what women face on a day-to-day basis. I think I learned more about different perspectives through working on the event and while attending it because there were a lot of great speakers there.
Do you plan on organizing more events like this in the future?
I definitely do. I hope to plan and collaborate more with local institutions to better showcase inclusion across our beautiful communities. At the end of the day, I know we are all stronger together, and planning things that celebrate our unique differences are very important to me.
The Student Movement is the official student newspaper of Andrews University. Opinions expressed in the Student Movement are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editors, Andrews University or the Seventh-day Adventist church.