Members of the BYU Women’s Honor Society marched in the Homecoming Parade holding cutouts of the faces of women who inspire them.
PROVO, Utah (October 13, 2018)—The BYU Homecoming theme this year was “Be Inspired.” With performances by David Archuleta and Colbie Callait, acts of service, and free blueberry donuts, the week provided plenty of opportunities for students to find inspiration. Members of the BYU Women’s Studies Honor Society found this inspiration by turning to women they look up to. Marching in the Homecoming Parade, members of the honor society held large cutouts of the faces of women who inspire them the most.
The range of women highlighted by the society included political figures, family members, singers, and saints. One student, Losa Smith, explained why she chose Oprah as her inspiration: “I would come home everyday from elementary and the first thing I’d do—I’d get a snack and I’d turn on Oprah… It just normalized my idea of strong women of color, and black women in particular, who do great things and who interview people and who are respected, and I think that really set the tone for the rest of my life.”
Valerie Hegstrom, associate professor in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese, as well as coordinator of Global Women’s Studies, chose to march with St. Teresa of Avila, because in a time “when women weren’t supposed to be close to God because people felt like they would be tricked by the devil… [St. Teresa] believed that she could have a relationship with God.” Student Harriet Norcross picked activist Alice Paul “because she saw something that was not right… and instead of just talking about it or just thinking about it, she went out and did stuff.” Another student, Sierra Shirk, chose artist Georgia O’Keeffe, a woman who “hated being called a female artist, because she just wanted to be an artist… [She was] not just a great female artist, but one of the greatest artists of all time,” said Shirk.
One student, Ciera Galbraith, said that she “double-dipped” because she picked two Hispanic women, in order to celebrate not only inspiring women, but also Hispanic Heritage Month. Galbraith proudly held the faces of Sotomayor and Dolores Huerta. Amy Franco, another student who marched in the parade, was also inspired by a Hispanic woman. Franco said she admires singer Selena Quintanilla not only for her “amazing talent,” but because of the relatable struggles she faced. According to Franco, one of the challenges Quintanilla faced as a Mexican-American was “not being Mexican enough or not being American enough.” This challenge, Franco noted, still exists for Mexican-Americans today.
Despite differences in occupation, ethnicity, and even time period, all of these inspirational women were tied together by a common thread: they all made a difference in the lives of the members of the BYU Women’s Honor Society, inspiring them through the challenges they overcame, the positive changes they made, the examples they set, and the lives they led.
Emma Ebert (Editing and Publishing ‘21)