UPDATED: May 21, 2016 at 10:51 p.m.

The Syracuse University community has taken strides toward becoming a more feminist campus this past school year in the forms of Slut Walks and inspiring viral YouTube videos. Here are the top five moments that reinforce how much progress SU has made in regard to women’s empowerment.

LadyFest continued to provide a safe, feminist space in Syracuse

The Westcott Community Center hosted the second annual LadyFest in Syracuse in September. Like the first LadyFest in 2014, Meghan Tamilio organized the festival to celebrate women in the local community. Part of its focus is to create a safe place for survivors of sexual assault to share their experiences and connect with other women on a personal level.

Aside from creating a welcoming atmosphere, there were a number of booths set up by vendors that were selling books, artwork, embroidery and even vagina-shaped jewelry. These one-of-a-kind goods sold at the festival, paired with spoken word performances and live music from local bands including The Nudes and Malvinas, made this event one to remember.

Joe Biden visited SU as a part of the It’s On Us campaign tour

SU College of Law alumnus and Vice President Joe Biden made a trip back to his old stomping grounds in November with a mission similar to the organizers of the Syracuse Slut Walk. Biden came to speak for the “It’s On Us” campaign, an initiative that was launched by President Barack Obama in 2014 in an effort to put an end to sexual assault and relationship violence on college campuses.

Students began lining up hours in advance to hear Biden address this prevalent issue. His visit proved to be a success, as he sparked a long overdue conversation and demanded student’s attention on this matter, which is necessary to reverse the hush-hush culture surrounding sexual assault.

One in five college-aged women will be a victim of sexual assault or attempted sexual assault, according to data from It’s On Us. Because of this alarming statistic, it’s important to begin the movement on college campuses. Universities are where America’s youth learn to come into their own and form ideas about critical issues. Initiatives like It’s on Us are essential if we hope to create any significant change within society in regard to fostering respect for women’s bodies and sexual decisions.

Alex Purdy spoke out against unfair treatment in the greek community

Among other things, SU is known for its basketball, its Orange pride and its greek life. Because of this, no one expected an SU student to speak so publicly against any of these. In January, senior public relations major Alex Purdy shed some light on her less-than-sisterly experience with greek life in a viral YouTube video. SU students were then able to hear firsthand the negative impacts that the greek community can have on women and what sororities should strive to be instead.

While the greek community can be a welcoming one for many, no young woman should be subjected to the kind of treatment described in Purdy’s video. Membership in sororities should be built on respect and close bonds, not impossible standards and degrading comments. Sororities are meant to provide its members with a home away from home and a sisterhood that should endure throughout college and beyond. But Purdy’s message makes it clear that some houses on campus are lacking in this respect and not practicing the feminist values they preach.

What SU students should take away from Purdy’s experience is that members within a sorority should strive to empower one another and be more inclusive, not destroy their sisters’ self-esteem. All in all, having a “FUPA,” as mentioned in Purdy’s video, is 10 times better than having an irreparable personality.

SU women’s basketball team received support from students in Schine Student Center

For the first time in the program’s history, the women’s basketball team made it all the way to the NCAA Final Four tournament and then the championship game against the University of Connecticut in April. Though the team didn’t beat UConn, advancing to the Final Four was no easy feat. Rallying around the women’s basketball team, about 45 students gathered in the Schine Dining Center to watch that Final Four game and celebrate the historic victory.

As an institution that takes athletics seriously, it’s important that the SU student body extends its Orange pride to all of its teams. Those that showed unconditional support for teams of both genders truly set an example for other students to follow. Every SU athlete dedicates an enormous amount of time out of their schedules for the sake of their sport and that should be commended — win or lose, man or woman.

First Slut Walk organized at Syracuse University

Students led the first ever Slut Walk in late April on the SU campus. In an effort to combat sexual assault and set the tone for a more inclusive campus, freshman Keturah Raymond and sophomore Jordan McGriff led the demonstration around campus and caught the attention of many students. Signs were made, chants were sung and it was a good day for feminism at SU.

“I think the moment it all hit me was when we started marching and I turned around and saw a huge crowd of people chanting and waving posters,” Raymond said. “That was kind of that defining ‘wow’ moment that people really believed in this movement and that there needs to be a change.”

As a college campus, it’s important for students to be the example for their peers when it comes to approaching important feminist topics. It took a great deal of collaboration with administration in order to bring the “SlutWalk” movement to campus. With signs like “My vagina. My Choice.” and “#StillNotAskingForIt,” students made it clear that slut-shaming is not OK on SU’s campus.

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What these events have in common is that they all aimed to improve the lives of women in the university community. And it’s important for students to further support these campaigns and recognize the value of pushing these boundaries moving forward.

Making SU a more feminist environment is ultimately a community effort, and these five events were a way to do just that.

Ivana Pino is a freshman political science major. Her column appears weekly. She can be reached at ivpino@syr.edu.

CORRECTION: In a previous version of this article, the organizer of the first LadyFest was misstated. The Daily Orange regrets this error.

Published on May 13, 2016 at 7:50 pm