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International Women’s Week celebrates the achievements of women through many different activities, like a table in the CUB yesterday where Cougs had the opportunity to reflect on the empowering women in their lives through an artistic sign.

Erin McIlraith, marketing and communication coordinator for the Center for Civil Engagement (CCE) organized this event. She said she believes this opportunity provides a great free space to dig down and think about what is important.

“I think it’s a really great way for people to reflect on people who have empowered them or impacted them at any point in their life,” McIlraith said. “It’s really open-ended and it lets people explore women’s empowerment and what that means to them.”

In past years, during International Women’s Week, there have been other activities similar to this year’s. In the past, however, the activities focused on women telling their stories of empowerment. This year, the activity has opened up so anyone can share stories of the important women in their lives.

“We’re making a Facebook album of all the participants holding their signs,” McIlraith said. “It’ll give us a really cool overview of what people at WSU think of women’s empowerment and how they’ve been impacted. I think it’s really cool to see all the different ways people have been impacted by women.”

Junior communication major Sierra Lewis is a peer mentor for the CCE who participated in the event and helped table for it. She said this activity is worthwhile because students are able to see what their peers think is important and get inspired by those values.

“We’ve had a bunch of diverse responses because so many people come from so many different backgrounds,” Lewis said. “A common theme has been a lot of people writing about their mothers on their signs because mothers are the women we go to the most, the ones we see the most and talk to the most.”

McIlraith said she hoped participants left the table feeling positive and empowered after participating in the Women Empower activity.

“I hope they walk away feeling like they can make a difference by reflecting on these heroes and empowering women and think ‘yeah, I can do that too,’” she said.

Another Women Empower activity will be held from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Thursday in the CUB.