MUNCIE, Ind. (NewsLink) – Ball State’s 100th birthday has brought a year-long celebration for campus, including hosting the 33rd Women's Week.The university held a panel & reception Tuesday honoring the Ball family women and their contributions to the school & community.
Ashleigh Bingham, doctoral assistant for women and gender studies said that so far throughout the centennial celebration, there has been a lack of appreciation for the contributions women have made to the university.
“Ball State has a very large, long history of beneficence and goodwill toward the community. It’s been very male-centric, though, so far,” Bingham explained on why a Women’s Week is especially important this year during the Ball State Centennial.
Bingham has organized the campus celebration of Women’s Week for the last five years.
While giving credit back to the Ball women, she hopes to also bring awareness of issues. Bingham is hopeful for positive change coming.
“I’m from Indiana and I love Indiana – I think it’s wonderful. I do think that there are things in our state that can be changed for a more equitable future,” Bingham said.
Bingham said that it can be tiring to do a lot of programming repeatedly, but what drives her is seeing someone hear a story and watching their spark ignite and knowing that they will now want to move things forward. She says that the key to moving forward is informing people – and that’s the intent of Women’s Week.
“We work better when we’re giving credit to everyone, when we’re listening to everyone, and when we make sure that we’re looking out for everyone,” she said.
