Alpha Pi Phi (APP) hosted the event to celebrate International’s Women’s Day.
VICTORIA SCHILLER / THE QUADRANGLE
Victoria Schiller, Senior Writer
In celebration of International Women’s Day, several Manhattan University clubs gathered outside on the quad in order to raise money and awareness for Rise of Broken Women NYC (RBW), a women’s shelter. The Alpha Pi Phi (APP) sorority on campus hosted the event alongside Greek life and other sponsors, offering a variety of activities and opportunities to fundraise for the day.
RBW is a nonprofit organization that aids women and their families with the tools necessary to remove themselves from poverty. APP has been fundraising for the organization for several years now, throwing annual events on the quad during International Women’s Day. APP even began the tradition of selling yellow roses in order to raise money and celebrate the day.
Liz Dong, a senior majoring in digital media art and marketing is the president of APP and explained the tradition behind annually hosting the tabling event, and handing out the yellow colored roses.
“One of our founding sisters actually started this event, because she’s from Italy and it’s a tradition there where they give yellow flowers to a beautiful woman on International Women’s Day,” Dong said. “They take International Women’s Day very seriously over there, so we decided to bring that tradition here and now we have this event every year.”
Dong also went on to discuss why celebrating International Women’s Day on the MU campus and fundraising for organizations such as RBW is so important.
“These events are really important because it brings the whole community together and raises awareness about certain things that people may not know about,” Dong said. “It raises awareness about International Women’s Day, as we support women on this special day by coming together for a cause. We’re all raising money for the same cause, which I think is really important. It also encourages volunteering in our community and making sure that we’re helping out in any way that we can.”
Dong shared her favorite part of the yearly event and what she was most looking forward to. She expressed gratitude for all the women working together for the same cause.
“My most favorite part about International Women’s Day is everybody coming together for one cause,” Dong said. “I love how involved everyone is in this. We planned this weeks in advance and everyone involved started throwing ideas out with what they wanted to do and what they wanted for their table. I’m glad everyone could socialize and come together to build a sense of community.”
Saige Gonzalez, a senior psychology major is the philanthropy and sisterhood chair for APP, and played a large role in setting up the event. She shared her excitement for the day and what she hopes for the future of International Women’s Day on campus.
“It was really a great experience setting up this event for today,” Gonzalez said. “I’m just happy all the clubs are here and came out to support women. It’s been going great so far. We’re going to raise money for them [RBW] and send it to them to help out with their shelter in general, with the food and clothing that they provide for the women. We’re thrilled everyone’s here today. It really shows everyone’s support. So far we’ve been doing a great job with selling everything. It’s interactive, we’re pieing DKE’s (Delta Kappa Epsilon). It’s very fun and I hope this occurs every year. It’s a tradition now.”
Alpha Phi Delta (APD) was another organization that hosted a table to raise money for International Women’s Day. The fraternity’s vice president, Jordan Gaylord, is a senior majoring in mechanical engineering. Gaylord spoke about the impact of International Women’s Day and what these events mean to him and the fraternity.
“I enjoy this because not only does it bring the community together on campus, but it’s also a time for us to give back to the community that we’re here for,” Gaylord said. “That’s one of the values our fraternity likes to hold up. We’ve been doing this a long time. Honestly, these events have gotten me closer to a lot of people and I just enjoy hanging out with everyone and seeing everyone because one day we’re going to graduate and it’s all going to be gone.”