AWOW, Advocates for Women of the World, is a student organization at Ohio State that advocates for international women’s rights. One of their goals is to promote access to education for everyone. As such, on November 16 they held an event in which around 30 young girls visited the Columbus Campus. For this, they partnered up with Proyecto Mar
iposas, a non-profit Columbus based organization that provides an environment of learning, sharing, and support to Latina girls and their mothers.
During the event, AWOW members led the girls on a tour around campus. The visitors also met with Office of Diversity and Inclusion Assistant Vice Provost, Yolanda Zepeda, to talk about the Latinx experience on a college campus.
Buckeye Aha! Math Moments was happy to join their efforts by welcoming the girls in the Mathematics Tower. During their short visit to our Department, they listened to Assistant Professor Liz Vivas‘ experience. Originally from Peru, Liz is a living example of how women of color can succeed in college and in mathematics. Girls also peaked into a Girls Exploring Math Monthly workshop that was being held that same day and were invited to join for those workshops as well as BAMM’s other activities.
The Department of Mathematics is a big one, and it welcomes all people regardless of race and gender. However, certain groups, such as women of color, are still underrepresented. With small actions like this one, BAMM hopes to contribute to create a more diverse environment.