Fair Publicizes Women's Groups

More than 30 organizations, along with pizza, cookies, and cake, greeted mostly female students at the first-ever Women’s Community Fair held last night in the Lowell House Dining Hall.

Spearheaded by the Harvard College Women’s Center and all-female club The Seneca, the event offered students a chance to learn about student groups ranging from the Undergraduate Council (UC) to the sorority Delta Gamma to the women’s rugby team.

Event organizers said the fair aimed to encourage a community more welcoming to women than they said was currently the case at Harvard.

“We wanted to create more opportunities at Harvard to get more women involved in student organizations and ultimately in leadership positions,” Director of the Women’s Center Susan Marine said.

Marine cited the UC as an example of female under-representation in Harvard student groups.

“I think it’s particularly important for the UC to be at this event and in future ones,” UC Vice President Annie R. Riley ’07 said. “We often have a hard time getting females to run.”

The fair was timed so that students who felt discontent with their current commitments have an opportunity to explore new ones, said Seneca Outreach Committee Chair Katherine E. Koopman ’08.

“My freshman year, I was hitting a wall at this point,” she said.

Seneca President Lauren H. Fifield ’06-’07 also said that the fair was intended to appeal to more than just freshmen.

“I thought the fair would be great as one way for students at Harvard to see what’s available to them, particularly for women who may not have joined the right groups their freshman year,” she said.

The organizing groups said that the fair is the first in a series of efforts to promote awareness about women’s issues. The Harvard College Women’s Center and The Seneca said they are planning a first-ever Women’s Week.

Attendees like Lisandra S. Costiner ’07 said they hoped to see more events like the fair.

“Keep them coming,” she said.

The event also dispensed a range of freebies, including $20 gift certificates to IHOP and Border Café.