Photo by Anastasia Caulfield
On Wednesday, the Women’s Center conducted the Women’s March on Washington Talk Back, which focused on discussing the march on Jan. 21 following the inauguration of President Donald Trump.
Both male and female students gathered in the Women’s Center to discuss their personal experiences at the march.
Berly Rivera, junior and coordinator for the Women’s Center, introduced the discussion as well as coordinated a gathering for students to attend the march in January. Rivera first asked the group who went to the march. Freshman and event coordinator for Latinos Moving Ahead Brian Rodriguez attended the march in New York City.
Rodriguez attended the march by himself and said, “I marched to advocate for everyone.”
Amira Rachouch, senior, also attended the march in Washington and said, “The march was a way to move masses.” Rachouch added that she marched for the “principles” of the event.
Jenna Rogenthal, freshman, said she had the opportunity to bring her boyfriend along who has not experienced a march before.
Jude Pernot, a women’s rights activist for 25 years, said, “I went to voice my opposition toward Trump and I went for the women component, standing up for women’s rights.”
Pernot called the entirety of the march “something that developed into something cohesive and was very broad and inclusive.”
It was profoundly noticed in the discussion that it rained for three days after President Trump’s inauguration.
“You can feel how unhappy the atmosphere was, and [people] felt so defeated,” freshman Gabby Bok said.
Anastasia Caulfield, junior, said, “I thought it was really important to unify under the title ‘womanhood.’ That was really, for me, why I marched. It was broad, it was general. There were multiple parties under that general umbrella.”
Caulfield added, “It was such a historical moment and to be a part of it was beautiful, and I wanted to capture every part of love. One of my favorite chants was ‘Love trumps hate.’”
Topics of transgender black females, the LGBTQ community and those who are considered minorities were also discussed.
A main focus on violence arose during the discussion. The group discussed pros and cons, opposition to and favoring of violence during gatherings such as the Women’s March.
“We only think of violence as smashing windows, but that’s not violence. Violence is restricting health care access to people systematically and putting children in schools that will not protect or support them,” a student said.
Rodriguez said, “This is not about having more than anyone. We are playing ‘catch up’ and we just want to be parallel.”
kbruno4@ramapo.edu
