Undergraduate Business Women Association will host their first Women’s Week Celebration, leading up to International Women’s Day on March 8. Credit: Courtesy of UBWA
The Undergraduate Business Women Association will host its first Women’s Week Celebration next week. The organization will have two main events on Monday and Tuesday leading up to International Women’s Day on March 8.
Sarah Burger, president of UBWA, said the week’s events are based on the organization’s values which are “to bring together students who are interested in empowering women by encouraging personal and professional growth through leadership, education, networking and community service.”
“We want to celebrate this week because a lot of times, especially in business, people try to put men and women against each other and compare us,” Burger, a fourth-year in finance, said. “We want to do something that brings all of us together and be a celebration, something that is positive and hopeful for us.”
This year the groups want to focus on both professional and personal growth and bringing these two parts together, Burger said.
The main theme of this week is “lifting as we climb,” Burger said, meaning that they want women advancing in careers or on campus to be supported, but she said they do not want to just empower women — they want to help everyone.
The first event of Women’s Week Celebration is a networking and leadership dinner on Monday, which will connect women in business majors at Ohio State with Columbus-area professionals as they share their stories about being a woman in business.
On Tuesday, UBWA will host a special panel “I am because she is,” bringing together men who represent different, prominent areas of student life to speak about the impact of the women in their lives. The panel will include football team members, junior wide receiver Austin Mack and redshirt sophomore punter Drue Chrisman.
Lauren Covetta, the vice president of corporate relations for UBWA, said this event means a lot to not only her, but fellow women in business. She said she hopes men and women will look to each other for support after hearing the panelists share their own experience of how women have inspired and support them.
“It’s a mutually-beneficial relationship to have with respect, consideration and with the idea of advancing,” Corvetta said, adding that she believes the narratives can “ inspire across all majors, genders and all backgrounds.”
Corvetta said all the male speakers on the panel have done impactful work that identified them as student leaders.
Burger said all faculty, staff and students are encouraged to attend the panel to hear new perspectives and share stories with others.
The panel will take place from 8:30 to 9:30 p.m. Tuesday in 105 Schoenbaum Hall with no RSVP required.
