“Girls Compete, Women Empower”

On March 17the women of the Association of Women Students in collaboration with Collegiate 100 Black Women, Be S.A.F.E, and the Divine Nine sororities held “Girls Compete, Women Empower” as their first event during AWS Week for the female student body of Southern University. The event featured pillow talk regarding sexual activity and protecting oneself from sexually transmitted diseases. Free HIV testing was offered to those in attendance.
The ladies of each organization were assigned groups of students to assist with various tasks throughout the evening. One highlight of the night included an exercise where attendees blew up balloons containing pieces of paper with their insecurities written on them and others’ perceptions written on the outside. Various games and conversations, along with great music filled the ballroom as the ladies had fun in their pajamas.
Attendees were given pamphlets detailing safe sex procedures and proper condom usage along with condoms and other useful advice when determining who to engage in sexual contact with. Questions about STDs such as syphilis, gonorrhea, and AIDS were answered in addition to an informative video on the changes faced after being infected with an STD.
The ladies also participated in a runway show to determine who had the most unique pajama outfit; three winners were selected.
“It was very interesting,” said sophomore Kia Summers in regards to the event. “We learned a lot about HIV and women empowerment. I feel that this event was very important because with the severity of various diseases going around, a lot of young ladies need this information,” finished Summers.
Others in attendance also felt the event was much needed.
“Tonight was a way for us to really learn and get to know each other better. I had fun and I feel that it helped a lot of ladies learn things that they may not have not known about as well,” said sophomore Tiffany Smith.
Janae Jackson, sophomore, also felt the event brought the ladies of the campus together, something she believes is important for the SUBR campus.
“I felt the event was very successful,” said Jackson. “It brought ladies together who weren’t really close and didn’t really know each other. We also received a lot of information about things we need to know, especially as ladies in college,” Jackson finished.