Pride flags, stickers and music abounded in the courtyard in celebration of International Day of the Girl and National Coming Out Day.  The event took place on Friday, Oct. 12 and was hosted by the I Am Club, GEG (Girls Empowering Girls), StuCO (Student Council), GSA (Gay Straight Alliance), and HEC (Honor Education Council).

Club leaders explained the celebration’s various activities, which included an interactive game to learn about LGBTQ and women’s rights statistics, communal mural painting, flag-making, pennant-making and a space where students could respond to prompts such as “what do you love about yourself?”

“[The celebration] goes with [Honor Education Council’s] theme this month of empathy, as well as one of our goals…to help educate the community,” HEC Senior Chair Sammy Raucher said.

Girls Empowering Girls leader Isabel Kuh ’19 explained that this year’s celebration promoted a much different message with a different purpose than those put forth in previous years.

“Last year we were more focused on awareness, empowerment and education,” Kuh said. “But now we want it to be more about celebrating and about empowering other people to embrace who they are.”