Student coalition hosts first-ever ASU Women’s Welcome

Ariana Grande, Lizzo and dozens of other empowering female artists provided an inspirational and motivational soundtrack for students who attended the inaugural Women’s Welcome event presented Sept. 4 by the Women’s Coalition.

The high-energy tunes played throughout the night at the Student Pavilion at ASU’s Tempe campus as students rotated through seven activity stations set up around the venue.

Participants listened to student speakers, made jewelry, decorated T-shirts, mixed essential oils, dressed up, took pictures in a photo booth, learned about maximizing their sleep space, contributed to a scrapbook of women’s stories and more. 

Participants make T-shirts at the inaugural Women's Welcome event at ASU.

Nina Plunkett, a third-year student and the president of the Women’s Coalition, is majoring in business law and supply-chain management and minoring in women’s studies.

Plunkett said she hoped the event offered an opportunity to connect at the beginning of another semester.

“I hope that the women who attend this event will gain a closer-knit group of women where they can talk about issues that are important that maybe they couldn’t talk about otherwise in some male-dominated circles,” she said. 

“It’s just different being in a space where women are able to share freely and be vulnerable, I think it’s super important. And then connecting those women with organizations that can help foster their personal leadership, growth and development, that’s also really important.” 

Courtnee King is an art history and political science major in her third year at ASU, and she’s also the second officer for the Women’s Coalition. King believes that the Women’s Welcome event is so important for women at ASU because it gives them a chance to discover all the resources that are there for them.

“I think it’s important for them to make connections, network and just know what resources are available to them. As well as just meet other women and make friends!”

Going forward, King says that the Women’s Coalition wants to more effectively spread their footprint across all four ASU campuses. They want to focus on helping survivors of sexual violence, talk more about ways in which we can combat sexual violence, fight for menstrual equity and much more.