Name: Breana White
Year: 4th Year
Major: English
Activities on campus: Shades of Essence, Coalition for Diversity, BSU, OCF, SPARK Women’s Leadership Conference, Sigma Tau Delta, Alpha Lambda Delta
Other service projects/involvement/work: Part-time Day Care Assistant, Mentor at Pomona High School, Tutor
Dream Job: High School Counselor, Nonprofits & Grant Writing
Life mission/passion: My passion is working with minority youth. I feel this is the path that the Lord is leading me. I want to serve as a guide/resource to help young minority students learn to think for themselves, understand the world they live in, and define/attain their own success.
Why did you start Shades of Essence?
The Vice President, NyShae Perkins, and I met up in May 2013 and thought it would be great to start a club that would encourage women on campus to be more understanding and have a higher respect level for one another, as well as uplift women as a group.
What benefits will members gain from joining this club? Members will gain a self-esteem boost, a deeper understanding of the women around them, a voice to be heard, intellectual discussion on feminist issues within the U.S. and various cultures and a place where they can grow individually, and with others.
What is your definition of feminism and how do you live this out? Feminism deals with the equality of women on a social, political and economic scale, as well as the elimination of negative and oppressive stigmas placed upon women in our double-standard, patriarchal society. I try to live this out by not being afraid to go above and beyond showing that I am just as capable as anyone else. I am also becoming more comfortable with who I am as a woman, so that I don’t feel the need to listen to what people say I should be or how I should act.
In what ways can ULV students help to empower women on a daily basis?
By speaking up and taking action once encountered with discrimination toward women, educating others about women’s awareness topics in the classroom and with on campus activities and discussion, and by remaining confident in your stance and who you are. You cannot educate others when they feel you aren’t grounded in the issues you present.