On Oct. 15 from 8-10 p.m. Residence Life hosted their annual event, Stand Up For Your Sister, at Barefoots where women across campus gathered to be vulnerable about the difficulties that they face and stand for one another to fight against shame and to cultivate community.
Each year at Stand Up For Your Sister, women across campus share testimonies and speak out about the struggles they face such as anxiety, grief, body image, singleness and addiction. Community is cultivated in realizing that women are not struggling alone.
The night kicked off with worship. After worship, a panel of women in various seasons of life each shared a personal testimony about struggles they have overcome or are currently facing. The panel was comprised of Kara Glover, girl’s ministry director at Fellowship Bible Church; Megan Pittman, associate professor of nursing; and Jenny Link, a senior social work major.
This event’s intent was to break the silence of these heavy struggles that many women face daily by showing them that they are not alone and there is no shame in struggling.
“We do this to help strengthen and unify the women’s community,” Ash Lafferty, women’s residence director, said. “We have so many sisters who share struggles with us and we just didn’t realize.”
After the panelists spoke, the Resident Assistants (RAs) passed out anonymous surveys for the women who attended to fill out. There were a wide range of questions on the survey that covered topics such as mental health struggles, body image, abuse and other common struggles that many women face.
After the surveys were filled out, the RAs came back around and collected the forms, then randomly redistributed them.
The survey questions were read aloud, and women stood for each struggle marked “yes” on the form they had been given. They were encouraged to look around each time a question was read in order to understand that more people struggle with things than they may have realized.
After this, the women were encouraged to write notes to other women, write out prayers, journal and reflect on the evening. The event concluded with worship.
“The purpose is to fight against isolation, loneliness and shame that we often find ourselves in around certain subjects that are heavy and hard to talk about,” Caitlyn Ward, a senior sociology major and RA, said. “It is always a very powerful night, and this year was no exception. It was a really cool representation of how vulnerability leads to deeper relationships.”
