Emma Shinker
Chief Copy Editor
On Saturday, Nov. 6, members of Women of Images (WOI) and the Black Women’s Organization (BWO) gathered for their annual Girls’ Night Out. The event began in the afternoon at the Acres of Fun skating rink, Wooster Skateland, in Wooster and finished with an after-party at the UnderGround that was open to all students on campus. “It’s a night for not just girls but everyone on campus to just have fun and come together to skate,” said Raven Reece ’22, who is the alumni liaison for WOI and the event chair for BWO.
The event was first held in 2019, and bringing it back after a year of virtual classes with virtually no opportunity for in-person events was a return to normalcy that was “much needed this year,” according to co-president of WOI Talia Anderson ’22. “We need regular events, just to get back into the groove of being on campus.”
The theme for the previous Girls’ Night Out was the 80s, and the one occurring this past weekend followed the trend, with students showing up to the roller rink dressed in their best 90s fashion. “The outfits were really cute,” Anderson remarked. “Seeing what people come up with to fit the theme is really cool.”
The outfits may have been one of the best parts of the event, but for Anderson and Reece, even more important is the sense of community the two organizations provide for both themselves and other students on campus. Anderson described WOI as being “a guaranteed community of people I know I can feel at home with and feel safe with.” Reece echoed the sentiment, saying that “Both organizations…are spaces where I can let my hair down.”
Both organizations strive to empower their members through support, education and community. While Women of Images focuses on being a woman of color in America and the Black Women’s Organization works to “promote self-love” for Black women, they have similar goals for creating cultural awareness on the College’s campus and cultivating the leadership skills of their members.
The collaboration between these two groups that resulted in the Girls’ Night Out provided an opportunity for members to come together and simply have a good time. Anderson was pleased with the turnout, and noted that this was the first event they had been to in a long time that hadn’t been negatively impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic—the first, but hopefully not the last.
Want to get involved with either of these groups? Women of Images meets every other Monday at 6 p.m. in the Images House, and the Black Women’s Organization meets on Mondays at 8 p.m. in Babcock’s formal lounge. You can also follow them on Instagram @womenofimages and @woo_bwo.