Latest news with #CelebrateWomen
Yahoo
26-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Did politics kill Women's History Month?
LANCASTER, OHIO — Kim Barlag knew she couldn't let women be canceled. For nearly two decades, Ohio University's Lancaster campus hosted an annual conference to 'promote and advance gender equity by recognizing the past, present, and future achievements of women from diverse ages and backgrounds.' Known as Celebrate Women, it featured awards honoring women in leadership, panels on business and civic engagement and service opportunities. The plan for this year was to collect food and school supplies for university students facing financial hardship. Celebrate Women became a much-anticipated Women's History Month tradition in this central Ohio city of 40,000, just 30 miles southeast of Columbus, the state capital. But then, on the eve of its 19th year, politics intervened. On March 6, two weeks and a day before the event, Ohio University announced that the conference had been 'placed on hold … in light of recent guidance from the Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights,' which threatened to withhold federal funding to institutions that do not conform to the Trump administration's notion of anti-discrimination. The university's decision followed the cancellation of a reunion for Black alumni, another regular occurrence in previous years. When she heard the news about the women's conference, Barlag, herself an alumnus and the president of the Chamber of Commerce in nearby Pickering, cycled through a series of emotions: disappointment, sadness, anger, resolve. 'I guess I should have seen it coming after that happened, but I was still surprised,' she told The 19th. 'I was pretty devastated. I shed a few tears. Then I thought: Action makes people feel better. How can we save this event? We needed to act fast.' She called and emailed other women leaders in the area — including some who, like her, had been scheduled to participate in Celebrate Women panels — to gauge their interest in reviving the conference as a non-university event. Their response, Barlag said, was 'gung ho.' The plans for the new event came together quicker than Pam Kaylor, a communications professor who organized Celebrate Women for the university, was able to notify participants of the previous one's cancellation. The independent event had a new name, We Rally & We Rise Women's Conference, and it brought together some 300 women at the Crossroads Event Center in Lancaster last week. Many Celebrate Women sponsors shifted their support and some new sponsors signed on, angry about the cancellation — Barlag took to calling it 'mad money.' Organizers handed out branded tote bags and notebooks. The event raised money for local nonprofit organizations. Speakers shared strategies to conquer anxiety and impostor syndrome. The boxed lunches were made by a nonprofit caterer that employs survivors of sex trafficking. The writing on the back of attendees' name tags captured the vibe: 'Welcome All BABS!!! BAD ASS BITCHES. Yes, you read that correctly.' As Barlag opened the conference, the audience's enthusiastic response 'set me off my game there for a minute' because 'it was so powerful and inspiring,' she later said. 'The energy was great — people were grateful to have a conference to attend, to be together, a show of force in support,' she added. Lancaster may be close to the state's capital, but it's the county seat in an agricultural region of pig and cattle farms. Lancaster itself is known for its glassware — the hometown company, Anchor Hocking, is named for the Hocking River, which snakes through the city. Once one of the world's largest manufacturers of glassware, Anchor Hocking went through a merger, then a bankruptcy. Like in so many small cities and towns, Lancaster's historic downtown became a symbol of economic decline in the post-industrial Rust Belt. In recent years, though, Lancaster's population began to tick up again. Fairfield County is a Republican stronghold in presidential elections. President Lyndon Johnson, in 1968, is the only Democrat who has won there since 1944. Republican President Donald Trump's America-first economic message resonated with voters who have watched Lancaster struggle, then rebound. In 2024, close to 62 percent of the county's voters cast ballots for Trump and Vice President JD Vance, who was then one of the U.S. senators for Ohio. The state, a one-time presidential bellwether that has in recent cycles grown more conservative, backed Trump over Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris by 55-to-44 percent. In this slice of Trump Country, personal interpretations of the reasons for the cancellation of Celebrate Women are a sort of political Rorschach test. Some left-leaning voters believe it was the inevitable result of Trump's assault on diversity, equity and inclusion, or DEI, a broad concept that his administration has deployed to challenge and threaten institutions deemed too liberal. Some conservative-leaning voters believe the cancellation to be an overly cautious move by the university — and potentially a way to make the new administration look bad. One thing on which women on both sides agree is that they should not be silenced. 'There is dissent about how we came to this place,' Fairfield County Auditor Carri Brown, an elected Republican, acknowledged during her opening remarks. But 'when we're told we cannot celebrate women, we'll respond by saying, 'Yes we can' … and we'll rally and we'll rise!' When she described diversity as 'not a bad word' but a 'blessing,' the crowd applauded and some rose to their feet. 'I have a very strong faith in America,' Brown said. Ohio University's decision to cancel the Celebrate Women event is the latest skirmish between conservative politicians and the elite institutions of higher education that they have long charged with being hostile to their political viewpoints, with so-called DEI efforts at colleges and universities now front and center to their case. A February 14 'dear colleague' letter from the civil rights office of Trump's Department of Education to colleges and universities alleged an 'embrace of pervasive and repugnant race-based preferences and other forms of racial discrimination' at the expense of White students. It noted that federal law 'prohibits covered entities from using race in decisions pertaining to admissions, hiring, promotion, compensation, financial aid, scholarships, prizes, administrative support, discipline, housing, graduation ceremonies, and all other aspects of student, academic, and campus life.' Noncompliance would risk the federal funding that nearly all colleges and universities receive. Though the letter made no direct mention of gender, it put university administrators on alert as they sought to identify any programming that could jeopardize their funding. When the Department of Education, which Trump now seeks to dismantle, launched investigations against more than 50 education institutions, it included two in Ohio: the University of Cincinnati and the Ohio State University. Judith Cosgray, a librarian and leader of an arts nonprofit who has attended Celebrate Women on and off for the past 15 years, described its cancellation as a balloon deflating when its attendees most needed a lift. 'I understand that they're afraid of losing their funding, I understand that, but sometimes you've got to stand up, too,' Cosgray said in between conference sessions. In addition to the various executive orders and directives that Trump has made about DEI, the Ohio legislature, where Republicans hold a veto-proof majority in part due to unconstitutional gerrymandering, recently approved a higher education bill that bans DEI training, scholarships and offices, and contains admonitions about teaching 'controversial' topics. It is expected to be sent to GOP Gov. Mike DeWine for his signature as early as this week. A spokesperson for DeWine did not respond to a request to comment on whether he will sign the anti-DEI legislation or if, by his estimation, events like Celebrate Women would fall under its purview. The office of GOP state House Speaker Matt Huffman likewise did not respond to the same question by publication time. Celebrate Women isn't the only recent example of how the assault on DEI across public life has led to a seeming prohibition on celebrating the accomplishments of women, with many actions taken during March, the month specifically earmarked to remember such events. Information about the first woman to pass Marine infantry training was among some 26,000 photos and online posts marked for deletion as part of a DEI purge at the Defense Department, the Associated Press reported. A page about Golden Girls actor Bea Arthur, one of the first to serve in the Marine Corps Women's Reserve, also disappeared. There are reports that Arlington National Cemetery scrubbed its website of references related to notable women veterans. It isn't limited to women. A Defense Department webpage that described the military service of Black civil rights icon and baseball player Jackie Robinson disappeared — and then reappeared. Information about the Tuskegee Airmen, the first Black military pilots who served in World War II, when the U.S. military was still segregated, has also vanished. Outcry over the removal of webpages about the Navajo Code Talkers who served during the same war led to their restoration. 'History is not DEI,' Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell said as the department scrambled to respond. Tabitha Stover, a financial adviser who describes herself as liberal, attended Celebrate Women for the first time last year. Despite spending most of her life in Lancaster, she didn't know anyone at the event, but found the group kind and inviting. She was disappointed to hear this year's conference would not move forward, then heartened when We Rally & We Rise took its place. She has vacillated about who was to blame, but described it as an event that brings people together instead of driving them apart. Stover shared a table with a group of colleagues from the area branch of a national nonprofit organization focused on youth mentorship. Several of them are friends of hers on Facebook; she knows the women have what she called 'very different' politics from one another. 'And yet we're all here sitting at the same table,' Stover said. The post Did politics kill Women's History Month? appeared first on The 19th. News that represents you, in your inbox every weekday. Subscribe to our free, daily newsletter.
Yahoo
18-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Trump threats have led to cancelled university events for women and Black alumni in Ohio
Alumni Gateway at Ohio University in Athens, Ohio. (Stock photo from Getty Images.) Two Ohio universities are not going forward with campus events in response to the U.S. Department of Education's 'Dear Colleague' letter threatening university funding and resources, as well as pending legislation in the Ohio Statehouse. Ohio University canceled its annual Black Alumni Reunion, which was scheduled for April 10-13, and OU's Lancaster campus canceled its Celebrate Women event scheduled for Friday in honor of Women's History Month. The University of Akron decided not to budget for their Rethinking Race forum, a series of events that was historically held in February, but was moved to a fall event last year, university spokesperson Cristine Boyd said. No programming has been scheduled for the fall. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX 'While the University offers a variety of events for students and the community, we must do so in the context of a state institution that is required to abide by law, regulations and guidance at both the federal and state levels, from which we receive funding,' the university said in a statement. 'As a result of that guidance, the University has decided not to budget for Rethinking Race this year.' Ohio State University closed its Office of Diversity and Inclusion and the Office of Student Life's Center for Belonging and Social Change last month. On Feb. 14, the U.S. Department of Education issued a 'Dear Colleague' letter to higher education institutions and K-12 schools that threatened to rescind federal funds for schools that use race-conscious practices in admissions, programming, training, hiring, scholarships, and other aspects of student life. Feb. 28 was the deadline for schools to comply. In the Ohio Statehouse, Senate Bill 1 would ban diversity and inclusion programs, put diversity scholarships at risk, and restrict classroom discussion, among other things. The Senate passed the bill last month and it is up for a possible vote out of the Ohio House Higher Education and Workforce Committee Wednesday morning, meaning it could go to a full House vote as soon as Wednesday afternoon. Both university statements announcing their event cancellations mentioned the letter and 'proposed State of Ohio legislation.' 'Ohio University is reviewing programming that includes elements that may not comply with the recent guidance,' the university said in a statement about the women's event. 'When necessary, the University is placing events on hold to allow time to review program elements and reimagine events as and if necessary to ensure compliance.' Ohio University's Black Alumni Reunion has been going on for more than 40 years. 'While this is difficult news to share, we remain committed to honoring the legacy and accomplishments of Ohio University's Black alumni,' said Terry Frazier and Jillian Causey, co-chairs of the Black Alumni Reunion Alumni Planning Committee. 'We will continue working with the University to develop a plan that aligns with evolving federal and state guidelines while preserving the significance of this gathering.' Ohio University President Lori Stewart Gonzalez said she was disappointed the reunion had to be canceled. 'In light of changes to federal and state guidance, we will need to think differently about some of the ways that we live out our mission and vision,' she said in a statement. The Ohio University Celebrate Women Event has been going on for nearly two decades and is designed to 'promote and advance gender equity by recognizing the past, present, and future achievements of women from diverse ages, ethnicities, and backgrounds,' according to the event page. 'We are disappointed that we need to put this longstanding event on hold, and we will continue to be committed to providing a space for accomplished women leaders to connect with and inspire our students, staff and alumni,' said Ohio University Executive Vice President and Provost Don Leo. 'We deeply appreciate the sponsors involved who have helped make this event possible, and we look forward to partnering on future events.' Follow Capital Journal Reporter Megan Henry on Bluesky. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
13-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Ohio University Lancaster pauses Women's History Month event, citing Trump DEI directives
Ohio University is pausing a National Women's History Month event at one of its regional campuses, citing Trump administration directives and proposed state legislation. Ohio University Lancaster will no longer hold its Celebrate Women 2025 event, scheduled for March 21, the university said in a press release. "In light of recent guidance from the Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights and proposed State of Ohio legislation, Ohio University is reviewing programming that includes elements that may not comply with the recent guidance," according to the press release. "When necessary, the University is placing events on hold to allow time to review program elements and reimagine events as and if necessary to ensure compliance." The event aimed "to promote and advance gender equity by recognizing the past, present, and future achievements of women from diverse ages, ethnicities, and backgrounds. We believe this is achieved through education, enlightenment, and inspiration," according to its webpage. This would've been the conference's 19th-annual event. Study up on education news: Subscribe to The Dispatch's weekly education newsletter Extra Credit 'We are disappointed that we need to put this longstanding event on hold, and we will continue to be committed to providing a space for accomplished women leaders to connect with and inspire our students, staff and alumni,' said Ohio University Provost Don Leo. 'We deeply appreciate the sponsors involved who have helped make this event possible, and we look forward to partnering on future events.' The news comes days after Ohio University said it was canceling it Black Alumni Reunion scheduled for April. Ohio University cited the changes as a direct result of several mandates from the Trump administration to wipe DEI practices from colleges and universities. In a "Dear Colleague" letter sent on Feb. 14, the U.S. Department of Education gave schools an ultimatum: Eliminate "race-based decision-making" from their campuses by the end of the month or risk losing federal funding. Schools must stop considering race in "decisions pertaining to admissions, hiring, promotion, compensation, financial aid, scholarships, prizes, administrative support, discipline, housing, graduation ceremonies, and all other aspects of student, academic, and campus life," according to the letter. Though the department has shared more guidance since the deadline on what programs need to end — and confirming that schools would not immediately lost federal funding if the U.S. Department of Education thinks they've broken anti-discrimination laws — many schools continue to make changes in line with the letter's asks. In lieu of OU Lancaster's Celebrate Women conference, a group of community leaders are planning an alternate event for the same day.'We Rally & We Rise Women's Conference' will be held at Crossroads Event Center from 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The event is not affiliated with Ohio University. Sheridan Hendrix is a higher education reporter for The Columbus Dispatch. Sign up for Extra Credit, her education newsletter, here. shendrix@ @sheridan120 This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Ohio University pauses Women's History Month event amid Trump DEI bans
Yahoo
12-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Ohio University pauses Celebrate Women conference
ATHENS, Ohio (WCMH) — Just days after Ohio University announced that it had put the Black Alumni Reunion on hold, the university's Lancaster campus has now paused its annual Celebrate Women conference, citing concerns that its programming may not comply with new federal guidelines. The event was set to take place on March 21, in honor of Women's History Month. People said that after the Black Alumni Reunion was paused, they anticipated other events would follow that same fate. 'I was disappointed, but not surprised,' said Michelle Calloway, an Ohio University alum. She believes that cancellation of the Celebrate Women event is a result of the 'Dear Colleague' letter the university received from the federal government. That letter was released on Feb. 14 and gave public school districts and universities two weeks to stop any programs teaching about systemic racism. 'Women's history events typically tend to fall under DEI as well, so I think they were just kind of going down the gamut of what was next and trying to play it safe,' Calloway said. Calloway said celebrating Women's History Month was a huge part of her time at the school during her undergrad days. She's worried that more events like Celebrate Women may be paused in the future. 'One of our main buildings on the campus was named after a woman, a really impactful female graduate,' Calloway said. 'We have one of our scholarships that was named after the first Black woman to graduate from the university.' The Celebrate Women event is in its 19th year. Event organizers said that it has sold out the past couple of years. In a letter announcing its decision, the university referenced recent guidance from the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights. The OU Executive Vice President Don Leo said in the letter, 'We are disappointed that we need to put this longstanding event on hold, and we will continue to be committed to providing a space for accomplished women leaders to connect with and inspire our students, staff and alumni.' 'Seeing this in this way is disheartening because I know the students really won't be able to celebrate it at that magnitude,' Calloway said. Universities across Ohio have been concerned about not only federal efforts to target DEI programs but also state efforts, namely a bill passed by the Ohio Senate that would target DEI programs at public Ohio universities. That bill is now in the Ohio House. 'I think we'll see fairly swift action in the House on the bill,' Ohio Speaker of the House Matt Huffman said. 'It is true that much of this has been litigated over the past two, or even four years, and I think there has been a change of mindset among many.' A former Republican state lawmaker said he doesn't necessarily believe the Celebrate Women's conference needed to be canceled, but believes the overall issue is another way to blame President Donald Trump. 'That's not the way I see it,' Calloway said. 'I see, I think and I'll just be very honest, it's been the Trump administration that has made it very clear where they stand with these events.' The letter from the university said that all registration fees and sponsorships will be automatically refunded. NBC4 reached out to Ohio University for comment, but we have not heard back. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
