By J1 Reporter Anna Dailey

          In September, Marian, Mercy and Duchesne are hosting a conference to celebrate the 100th year anniversary of the 19th Amendment getting ratified. The 19th Amendment gave women the right to vote in 1920. This is an important moment in history for the all-girls schools. 

         “The event is going to be an entire school day, so first you can expect a day off of homework. It’s really a day about women empowerment,” Anna Thibodeau, a Duchesne junior on the planning committee, said. “We’re learning about empowered women from the past and present, we have speakers and activities, and we’ll talk about how any of us can change the world.” 

         The event will take place at Creighton Prep on Sept. 25, 2020. Planning for this conference has been in full force as the day approaches. “We had a really productive meeting right before spring break and came up with a great list of potential speakers,” Ms. Susie Sisson, Marian English teacher and chair of the planning committee.

          Meetings with teachers and students from the three girls schools were planned over spring break, but because of the outbreak of COVID-19, they were cancelled. Just because the teachers and students won’t be meeting in person doesn’t mean all planning has been put to a halt, though. 

          Teachers and students from Marian, Mercy and Duchesne planning the conference have been encouraged to continue talking with one another about the area of the event they are in charge of. Potential speakers will be contacted soon. “I suggested to them [committee members] that we wait at least a few weeks before inviting people,” Ms. Sisson said. “I hope that everything will be settled down by this fall and the conference will proceed as planned, but right now, it seems a little tone deaf to invite people to a conference with 1,400 students, at a time when we’re all being told to avoid crowds!” 

          “We thankfully have been on top of things and pretty on schedule, which gives us some wiggle room in case we have to work into the summer,” Thibodeau said.   

          Unless quarantining and social distancing are still necessary to stop the spread of COVID-19 come September, the conference will still be held. Students will hear more about how to prepare for the conference closer to the scheduled date.

Photoillustration created by Grace Ellis from public domain images and:
https://www.publicdomainpictures.net/en/view-image.php?image=76001&picture=we-can-do-it-posterhttps://time.com/4643297/colorized-suffrage-photos/
https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2009/jan/13/1911-census-goes-online
https://theievoice.com/metoo-a-conversation-about-sexual-assault-and-harassment/
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/women-s-march-california-canceled-over-concerns-it-would-be-n953281

Listen to Ms. Sisson talk about the Summer Read Program and how it relates to the conference:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Uh3XIEsfA0&t=14s

Watch this awesome parody video of Lady Gaga’s “Bad Romance” — inspired by Alice Paul.   http://www.soomolearning.com/suffrage/