The event, created by Senator Dani Antonio, highlighted several different resource groups and organizations in light of International Day of the Girl Child
By LILY FREEMAN – campus@theaggie.org
On Oct. 20 from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m., ASUCD hosted the first-ever Planet Her event in celebration of the International Day of the Girl Child. Planet Her was created by ASUCD Senator Dani Antonio, a fourth-year political science and psychology double major, who said that this was the first-ever for women and by women ASUCD-sponsored event.
“I am so honored to be here and have all of you wonderful humans in one room celebrating the power of the girls,” Antonio said in the event’s opening remarks.
The International Day of the Girl Child was declared in 2011 by the United Nations (U.N.), according to the U.N. website. This national holiday is celebrated every Oct. 11, aiming to recognize girls’ rights and the unique challenges that they face globally.
“More often than not, women are underlooked, underestimated and underrepresented,” Antonio said in a conversation following the event. “Currently, I am one of two women on the twelve-seat ASUCD Senate table. If this is something I experience, I just know that women everywhere are experiencing the same thing. With that, I wanted to create a safe, inclusive space to celebrate women and their power, especially for International Day of the Girl.”
There were over 25 resource and involvement booths for attendees, such as the Students for Reproductive Freedom, UC Davis Women’s Rugby, Davis Women in Business, the LGBTQIA Resource Center, the Society of Women Engineers, the Prytanean Women’s Honor Society and the ASUCD Mental Health Initiative.
To encourage students to learn from all of the organizations and resources, every attendee was given a bingo card which could get stamps from going to each of the booths. If a student won their bingo sheet, they would have the opportunity to win prizes, such as Amazon gift cards and Plan B.
The event also included performances by women-led organizations on campus, such as AfroVibes, MK Modern and The Spokes.
Chiroshree Das, a third-year global disease biology major and volunteer at Planet Her, said that it was important to have more events that highlight the International Day of the Girl.
“Obviously, we celebrate International Women’s Day, but it’s also important to celebrate girls and their place in society,” Das said. “There’s a lot of countries where girls aren’t really given the resources they need growing up or where femicide is a pretty common occurrence. This event was just made to uplift women, and then call attention to that day on campus.”
Andie Tarabzooni, a second-year communications major and ASUCD chief of programs, discussed her initial thoughts when Planet Her was proposed by Antonio.
“When [Antonio] first introduced this to me, I was like, ‘Whoa, this is a lot to pull off,’” Tarabzooni said. “Now, I’m seeing her pull it off. Being a part of the team that has been able to pull it off has been something so amazing.”
Tarabzooni went on to discuss the value of the resources provided for students at the event and the importance of Planet Her as a whole.
“I absolutely think that Planet Her is such an essential day when it comes to ASUCD events,” Tarabzooni said. “Students should know what resources they have. At the end of the day, the main thing I hope people get out of [Planet Her] is a resource that they didn’t know they had before. I just hope that they fully understand that these are the things meant to benefit [students], and there’s no shame in having things that benefit you.”
Antonio said that the intention is to have future Planet Her events and others like it.
“There is so much value that comes with building spaces of representation and community,” Antonio said. “We live in an extremely inequitable world. It’s only essential that we create spaces like these to foster environments of inclusivity, respect and empowerment. I hope that everyone who came to the event felt celebrated for their individuality and their power. As a senator, it’s my dream to listen to every single student, support them and amplify what they have to say.”
Written by: Lily Freeman – campus@theaggie.org
