Women spent the afternoon drinking tea in china from Argentina during the Global Women’s Tea event this past Thursday, March 24. Hosted by the Women’s Resource Center (WRC) and the Office of International Students and Scholars (ISS), the two offices wanted to create an empowering space where the diverse group of women at APU could come to share stories from their cultures and experiences.
The main goal of this event was to celebrate, honor and affirm the women on campus,” Camille Corpus, senior allied health major, said.
Gina Shin, senior psychology major, said that during the event, one of the speakers brought tea and fine china from Argentina, taught the crowd to drink tea properly and explained the insulting nature of a guest failing to finish his or her cup of tea in an Argentinian home.
After the speaker had delivered her teachings, a discussion commenced at the tables. Lynn Huh, graduate assistant in the ISS, said that she threw out the topic of women criticizing one another because of their different cultures from which differences are inevitable. She posed the question, “How do we encourage those differences instead of pointing them out as wrong?“
Huh said that following this discussion topic, her table talked about beauty standards.
This event comes amidst big movements that are internationally fighting for gender equality.
The HeforShe campaign, launched in 2014 by UN women, is a movement for gender equality that calls to engage both men and women in conversations and in solidarity to fight for equal rights. Since its launch, over 1 billion people have taken the HeforShe pledge.
With about 20-25 students in attendance, this is the highest attended Global Women’s Tea held at APU.
“The fact that we filled up five tables was a great turn out. It was successful because everyone was engaged, talking and enjoying their tea,” Huh said.
By helping to initiate important conversations, both the WRC and ISS believe the event was a success. Last year, the tea was held in the WRC office, which is about a quarter of the size of the venue of this year’s event.