Among the events of Women’s History Month was the Women’s Fair, held under the Sombrilla and hosted by the Women’s Studies Institute (WSI).

More than 25 organizational booths from both on and off campus, provided information on women’s issues and several musical performers such as Rita Vidaurri, Girls in a Coma and Ledaswan to the students of UTSA.

The Alamo Breast Cancer Foundation brought breast cancer survivors on campus seeking signatures for letters to be sent to state congress persons requesting more funding for cancer research.

The Martinez Street Women’s Center promoted the physical, emotional and social well-being of women through presentations about topics ranging from physical activity to parenting classes.

In addition, the Rape Crisis Center for Children and Adults provided information about domestic abuse and volunteer opportunities within the center.

The WSI raised scholarship money for students by asking for an eight dollar donation in exchange for a tote bag. The logo for the bags was drawn by Mary Agnes Rodriguez, a local artist. The logo represents strong women that are invested in education.

According to Dr. Sonia Saldivar-Hull, executive director of the Women’s Studies Institute, the purpose of the Women’s Fair was to attract students to women’s issues and organizations, such as the Office of Institutional Diversity (OID), which strives to eliminate illegal discrimination, including sexual harassment among students, staff, faculty and visitors, and investigates complaints.

“The OID was definitely eager and excited about participating in the first Women’s Fair because women are a segment of our population that need to be commemorated for their unique contributions to our society,” Grace Hernandez, director of the OID, said.

Faculty and staff in WSI sought to bring a variety of programing for Women’s History month.

“We’ve had so many speakers with so many different backgrounds,” said Patricia Trujillo, assistant to the director of the WSI. “Yet the conversations and dialogues all speak to each other. Our theme, ‘Testimonios: Telling Our Stories,’ has really come to life with all of the events.”

“We want to let men and women know that WSI is an on campus resource for students,” said Trujillo.

Although there are no definite plans for next year’s event, Trujillo says that she hopes to continue “pulling voices of the community that are not heard in an effort to embrace the diversity of San Antonio.”

The next event, Sharing Your Story at Women’s Global Connection, at 2:00 p.m. on March 31, in HSS 3.02.50, will allow women to create their own web site to share their stories.

A schedule of events is available at http://www.utsa.edu/wsi/womens_history_month.htm.