Initiative champions gender equality
The Guelph Gryphons Football Team and the College of Business and Economics (CBE) are hosting a joint event supporting the United Nations (UN) HeForShe initiative on Wednesday, March 13.
HeForShe is an initiative that proposes gender equality as not just a women’s issue, but a human rights issue. The initiative highlights the importance of men standing up for women and playing their part in promoting gender equality.
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HeForShe addresses six main areas of gender inequality worldwide:
- Education
- Health
- Identity
- Work
- Violence
- Politics
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The U of G public event, to be held at the W.F. Mitchell Athletics Centre, will include a talk by Amanda Lang focussing on her book, The Beauty of Discomfort, which is about using discomfort to propel yourself forward. Whether it be in the world of business, on the football field, or in the classroom, discomfort can be used as a foundation for change.
Amanda Lang is a business journalist and author of The Power of Why. Lang started her career working as a journalist for The Globe and Mail and the Financial Post, and has also worked for CBC News. She now works in television and has hosted The Exchange with Amanda Lang, The Lang and O’Leary Exchange, and SqueezePlay. Currently, Lang is an anchor with BNN Bloomberg and CTV News The event will also include Julia Christensen Hughes, the Dean of the College of Business and Economics, moderating questions for Lang about the HeForShe movement, as well as challenges that she’s faced as a woman in business.The Amanda Lang Resilience Award, a scholarship worth $5,000, will also be awarded at the event. The scholarship will go to a female student in the Bachelor of Commerce program who has shown resilience and leadership.
The event is a collaborative effort between CBE and the football team, whose current coaches, along with former coach Stu Lang, envisioned the event. CBE has been able to execute the idea.
Over the past several years, the football team has aimed to be more integrated and present in the university and greater Guelph community by participating in events and initiatives off the field. Part of the vision for the event is to have the football team hear and learn from a powerful female leader. As Stu Lang states, “There’s more females than males [at the University of Guelph] and we need to respect and honour that.”Choosing to support HeForShe at the event seems relevant in light of the recent problems surrounding sexual violence that have surfaced and the influence that a male-dominated sport could have.
Following this year’s event, HeForShe is scheduled to be held every year around International Women’s Day.
Photo Courtesy of HeforShe