By Sarah Huffman

The month of March is Women’s History Month and Fordham has several events planned to celebrate women’s history.

Smart Women’s Securities (SWS) is a nonprofit organization focused on investment education for undergraduate women. The organization seeks to provide undergraduate women with the skills necessary to make decisions regarding investments.

SWS is hosting many events this month. So far it has hosted a New York Stock Exchange corporate visit, an AMG Funds seminar and a JP Morgan Asset Management corporate visit. On Thursday, March 14 they will be having a RBC Seminar and on Thursday, March 28th they are hosting a Fortress Seminar.

Additionally, their main event of the semester is the Women in Leadership Conference on Thursday, April 11. This event will have a young alumni panel, keynote speaker and networking hour.

Spire Fordham is not personally hosting any events this month due to midterm exams and spring break, but President of Spire Fordham, Vienna Terrell, FCRH ’19, said the club likes to keep its members informed about various events going on around campus in celebration of women’s history.

She said they also try to keep their members updated about events throughout the city, such as feminist art exhibits. Throughout March, Spire also aims to highlight important women in the media and on or around campus on their Instagram page, said Terrell.

“Though Women’s History Month is specifically tied to March, we generally like to treat every month like Women’s History Month,” said Terrell. Spire hosts events for women both on and off campus all year long that range from making Women’s March posters in January to Under The Tent dress shopping in April.

The Office of the Chief Diversity Officer is having its inaugural celebration of women of color, Visionary Women Building Strong Communities Art Reception. This event is on Tuesday, March 26 from 4:00 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. in the Campbell multipurpose room.

This event will celebrate Women’s History Month by honoring students, staff and faculty members who self-identify as women of color. It will feature artwork from the Fordham and greater Bronx community.

“This event seeks to create a safe space for women of color to share their experiences and have conversations about empowerment, community, and agency,” said the Office of the Chief Diversity Officer in an email.

Career Services held an Advancing Women Leaders Seminar on Thursday, March 7. The event consisted of a panel of female professionals including Alanna Nolan, former dean of students in Student Affairs, Maureen Graney from the consulting company Linkage, Kay Turner, Vice President for Human Resources and Annette McLaughlin, director of Career Services. The panel was moderated by Maria Aponte, Career Services diversity initiatives coordinator.

This was the first year Career Services has hosted an event like this. Graney did a presentation on the book “Mastering Your Inner Critic” by Susan Mackenty Brady, which discusses the seven hurdles that women face and how to overcome those hurdles.

McLaughlin said the panelists talked about their experiences and their personal career mentors who helped them get to where they are today.

Aponte said she asked the panelists how they dealt with a specific hurdle or challenge in their lives and how they felt about their decision.

“It became very organic. Everyone started telling their stories with the perspective of where they started, the choices they made, and how they moved forward to be where they are today,” said Aponte. “I was very proud that we were able to offer something like this to our female students.”

She said it was enlightening to watch the attendees’ faces and see how interested and engaged they were during the panel.