Pitt’s campus recreation is acknowledging Women’s History Month this March with their Panther Fit wellness series, a collection of physical and mental health activities designed to motivate and inspire women to come together in athletics. 

This is the second year of their Panther Fit wellness series, EmpowHER, a collection of events on campus. This series offers diverse activities including small group training, climbing nights, soccer tournaments and a self-defense class throughout March. Brandyn Ott, associate director of wellness and recreation programs, believes that “empowering women through movement is necessary.” 

“The biggest thing with the wellness series … is fostering a sense of belonging,” Ott said. “The fitness scene is sometimes an intimidating environment for women to participate in, so we wanted to focus primarily on women programming to make them feel comfortable in our setting, to get them involved and create a community.”

After being petitioned by the National Women’s History Project, a nonprofit organization dedicated to honoring and preserving women’s history, Congress and the President declared March as Women’s History Month in 1987. Zachary Davis, director of equity and inclusion programs, noted how Pitt has been able to bring people together through a mixture of discussions, performances and speakers to celebrate Women’s History Month.

“Pitt has been celebrating Women’s History Month with community-based events for many years,” Davis said. “[These events] create spaces where people can connect, reflect and celebrate the many dimensions of womanhood.”

Campus Recreation has been active in hosting its Wellness Series events for other honorary months, such as Black History Month in February and Pride Month in June, to engage in campus participation.

Controversy regarding Women’s History Monthsparked online in February when Google Calendar users noticed honorary holidays such as Black History Month and Women’s History Month had been removed from the beginning of their respective months. According to The Verge, a Google spokesperson said the changes took place in the middle of 2024. 

“Some years ago, the calendar team started manually adding a broader set of cultural moments in a wide number of countries around the world,” the spokesperson said to The Verge. “We got feedback that some other events and countries were missing — and maintaining hundreds of moments manually and consistently globally wasn’t scalable or sustainable.”

The Office of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion and the Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Studies programs at Pitt, among others, have directories that highlight the importance of different honorary months and marginalized groups that need access to special resources.  

“Honorary months help us shine a light on stories and experiences that have shaped history but don’t always get the recognition they deserve,” Davis said. “At Pitt, we see these moments as opportunities to spark conversations, challenge assumptions and build a stronger community.”

Sarah Sleva, assistant director of outdoor and adventure pursuits, expanded on how important it is to ensure there is more female participation in athletic activities. 

“You don’t see many women participating with the male dominance of the field,” Selva said, “so [we create] that space for them to feel like they have the belonging but also meet more community members to see that sense of them fitting in.” 

With a new athletic facility being built as part of the Campus Master Plan, campus recreation is focusing more on participation and involvement. Sleva explained campus recreation will continue to prioritize women by hosting a women’s climb night every month to give women their own space and remove the pressure of judgment. 

“It creates a space every month [where] there are only women at the wall and can see themselves there and not have that intimidation factor of other people judging or watching them,” Sleva said. 

Ott added on, explaining how a dedicated space for women to feel comfortable and supported offers a way to foster individual growth and community. He hopes that the Women’s History Month events will be able to reach students who have not participated in Pitt athletic events before.

“The goal is hopefully that we can reach one student that has never participated in one of our programs in this Women’s History Month wellness series, to where they can branch out and do our regular programs outside these wellness series,” Ott said. 

The events hosted for the EmpowHER series are mainly taught by female instructors to create a comfortable and relatable environment for female students. 

“The self-defense program that we’re going to be running at the end of this month is partnered with Prevention at Pitt and Pitt campus police,” Ott said. “[It] is more of a holistic wellness approach, so you’re going to get that physical aspect from the program but also a support session at the end to where you’re getting both physical and mental safety in one program.” 

The women’s self-defense and support session will be on March 22 from 12:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. in Trees Hall’s multipurpose room. Registration can be done online on the Pitt Campus Recreation programs page. 

Pitt’s Office for Equity, Diversity and Inclusion is focusing on a personal approach by bringing together student and faculty storytellers from across the university to share stories of womanhood in their annual HerStory Slam on March 25th at 6 p.m. in the Connolly Ballroom of Alumni Hall. 

Davis highlighted that Women’s History Month is not just a one-group effort, but is a “collaborative” effort for all members of the Pitt community.