YSU Students to attend Women’s March in DC

Staff report

YOUNGSTOWN

As Inauguration Day approaches, a busload of Youngstown State University students is preparing to participate in the Women’s March on Washington on Jan. 21 – the day after Donald J. Trump is sworn in as the nation’s 45th president.

Amanda Fehlbaum, a professor with the Women and Gender Studies program, arranged a bus trip for 30 YSU students and obtained funding from the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences.

She said the trip will help fulfill the mission of the Women and Gender Studies program, which is creating a generation of leaders who accommodate and celebrate differences.

The march was organized as a response to what the organizers term the demonization of marginalized people during the last election cycle.

“It’s about letting Trump and the new administration in general know that women’s rights are human rights and defending the most marginalized of us is defending us all,” she said.

Fehlbaum said the response has been enthusiastic, and the reservations went quickly.

According to the Washington Post, 1,200 buses have sought parking permits for the march, compared with 200 for the inauguration.

Lindsay Heldreth and Marissa Gray have both registered to attend the march. Heldreth is the YSU chapter president of the National Organization for Women, and Gray helps organize Take Back the Night, an annual march honoring survivors of sexual assault.

Gray said a lot of women, especially sexual-assault victims, have felt alienated and ostracized by this election cycle. She said she is grateful for the opportunity to make her voice heard.

“I think it’s really important for young people to be involved,” she said. “We are the next generation, and I think we need to create a movement.”

Heldreth echoed Gray’s thoughts. She said the march will be an historic event, and she’s happy to be a part of it.

“Unless the people in our society who have been marginalized start taking direct action against oppression, nothing will change,” Heldreth said.

“We’ve got a long four years ahead of us, and if we allow ourselves to be silent and complacent, politicians like Trump and [Vice president-elect Mike] Pence will continue to stunt any progress that’s been made.”