This past Tuesday, March 8, people around the globe celebrated International Women’s Day (IWD). This global holiday is meant to celebrate women’s social, political, economic and cultural achievements. After years of marches, protests, rallies and campaigns, it was honored fully for the first time on March 19, 1911, though in 1913 the date changed to March 8 and has been there ever since. In 1996, the UN began the tradition of giving each IWD a theme, starting with “Celebrating the past, Planning for the Future”, “Women at the Peace table” (1997), “Women and Human Rights” (1998), “World Free of Violence Against Women” (1999) and so on. The current year’s theme takes the form of a social media tag: #BreakTheBias. The theme’s hashtag is meant to bring awareness to gender bias, stereotypes and discrimination, and to give hope for a world that could be more accepting, equal and diverse.

Thanks to the Center for Community and Civic Engagement (CCCE), Elizabethtown College was able to hold many interactive and exciting events to celebrate IWD this year. From 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., students could gather in the BSC Concourse and take pictures with women leaders at Etown while taking a pledge to #BreakTheBias. Throughout the campus, students could view posters for the holiday, particularly in the Bowers Center Lower Lounge, where photos and quotes from notable women in history were plastered on the walls.

For most of the day, students and staff were able to walk around to various stations of activities. One table had people writing cards and mailing them to the women in their lives who had inspired them in some way. Another had volunteers handing out free girl power and inspirational stickers for anyone who passed by. Perhaps the most notable station was the inspirational give and take board on the first floor of the BSC. People were able to take a card with an inspirational quote on it to encourage themselves throughout the day, then they were able to give back by writing their own advice and posting it to the board.

The events continued into the evening hours as well. The staff for the Bowers Center for Sports, Fitness and Well-being organized a women’s power hour event from 7 to 9 p.m. Around the same time in the fitness room, a Women’s Empowerment Spin Circuit class was held.

“All of the different stations were fun to do, and I think it’s really nice that we get to see so many people celebrating the day. I think my favorite part was the inspirational board. It felt nice to see all the encouragement,” a sophomore student said.

The appreciation for IWD was very evident on the Etown campus. Seeing how everyone came together to honor how far women have come and to reinforce how much further we can go—it made for a great day of celebration. The contributions of women have been overlooked and drowned out for a very long time, and we are grateful for the awareness that this holiday brings. However, just because the day itself has ended does not mean that people need to stop showing their appreciation. The #BreakTheBias would not take root if people only thought about it for a day.

You can give cards to the women in your life no matter what day it is. You can organize a celebratory, women-power gym day with your friends whenever you wish. Perhaps most importantly: thousands of resources, both online and physical, exist if you want to educate yourself or others about the rich history of women. Women have come a long way, but still have further to go, and we hope that eventually we can create a better world and break the bias.