The new club “Project: Her”, founded by juniors Madilyn Yee and Brisa Gonzalez-Lopez, was presented on Feb 25. The purpose of Project: Her is to destigmatize feminist advocacy and encourage people across campus to speak publicly about issues important to them.
The current officers of the new feminist club are Yee as president, Gonzalez-Lopez as vice president, Angelina Aguero as treasurer and Kassandra Aguirre as secretary.
The idea for the club began when Gonzalez and Yee were on a FaceTime call, which led to them discussing an Instagram page called “Westcobops.” The account was purely devoted to shaming students, many of which were girls, around campus who were perceived to be promiscuous. Upset that school advisors took no action on the situation, Gonzalez-Lopez and Yee decided to create a club dedicated to women empowerment.
“I want to see more avocation (sic) in our school. I want to see people engaged in how we can solve issues in our community. And how we can make it so everybody feels equal, safe and secure. That’s kind of like what we’re hoping to accomplish with it,” said Gonzalez-Lopez.
Events the officers hope to accomplish are attending breast cancer walks, scrapbooking for women centers, inviting public feminist speakers from women groups to speak with the club, and having days dedicated to where participants can bring a snack and gather to talk about important issues that happen during school. Specifically, if girls are being overlooked, or topics that aren’t addressed, but should be.
“We have so many things that we want to do and I think that’s the best thing about our club. My officers and I like Brisa, Kassy, Angie are so passionate about this, and we have a ton of things that we want to do and hopefully we’ll be able to do them,” said Yee.
The club hosted their first charter meeting in L-6 on Feb. 28, where more than 50 students attended. Although the club preaches women empowerment, all are welcomed regardless of their gender identity.
“I’d like for this to be a safe place for people to engage in conversation and hopefully we can start coming up with what our next move is, to provide a solution and make change,” said Project: Her advisor Stephanie Perluss.
As Project: Her continues to grow and become something special to students around school, the officers ultimately hope that with this club students have a place to go to feel supported and empowered to make a difference within the community.
