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The ����ɫ��ҹ University Women’s Center is excited to host the second annual Gender, Equity, Advocacy and Representation (G.E.A.R.) Awards. The event welcomes everyone to recognize and celebrate ����ɫ��ҹ faculty, staff, students, alumni and community members who are “turning the gears” toward gender equity.

The Women’s Center advances gender equity within the ����ɫ��ҹ community through education, advocacy and action. Through the G.E.A.R. Awards, the Women’s Center and the university community come together to celebrate the pioneers and influential figures advancing gender equity and elevate the stories of those whose impactful work often goes unrecognized.

“The event is phenomenal,” said Cassandra Pegg-Kirby, director of the Women’s Center. “People feel seen by being in that room together and honoring the work that is often done but not noticed.”

The G.E.A.R. Awards will be held on March 18 from 5–7 p.m. at the ����ɫ��ҹ Hotel and Conference Center. The registration deadline is March 11.

Pegg-Kirby asked Sonia Karkare, program coordinator of the Women’s Center, to be the keynote speaker of the inaugural G.E.A.R. Awards as a way to introduce Karkare to the community.

In Karkare’s speech, she shared her experience as an immigrant woman and a global nonprofit leader and her journey of advocacy and breaking barriers toward gender equity.

Pegg-Kirby shared a quote from , a journalist and social activist, in the 2024 G.E.A.R. Awards that embodies the idea behind the event’s acronym:

“At my age, in this still hierarchical time, people often ask me if I’m ‘passing the torch.’ I explain that I’m keeping my torch, thank you very much—and I’m using it to light the torches of others. Because only if each of us has a torch will there be enough light.”

“When one gear moves, it moves the next, then that one moves another and it continues,” Pegg-Kirby said.

The 2025 G.E.A.R. Awards nominees include:

• Debbie Barber, Retired Assistant Dean, ����ɫ��ҹ
• Kelly Clary, Community Organizer
• Michele Criss, Assistant Director, Fraternity Sorority Life, Division of Student Life
• Aislinn Foran, Senior, Communication Studies major, Public Relations minor
• Stephanie Gaskins, Manager, Course Reserves, University Libraries and Chair, Staff Council  
• Mallory Good, Senior, Political Science major
• Iris Harvey, Retired, former president and CEO of Planned Parenthood of Greater Ohio 
• Riley Hudson, Senior, Communications major, Women's Studies minor
• Jasmine Jeffries, Graduate Student, Sports Administration, Graduate Assistant, Student Development and Alumni Engagement, Athletics 
• Aimee Johnson, Costume Shop Supervisor, School of Theatre and Dance
• Sonia Karkare, Program Coordinator, Women's Center, Division of Student Life
• Heather Malarcik, Executive Director, Main Street Kent 
• Jennifer Marcinkiewicz, Director, Center for Teaching and Learning
• Suzette McQueen, Deputy Athletics Director/Senior Woman Administrator, Athletics
• Molly Merryman, Associate Professor, School of Peace and Conflict Studies
• Tiera Moore, Former USG President and Current President of Kent City School Board 
• John Paul Morabito, Assistant Professor of Art and Head of Textiles, School of Art
• Jennie O’Connell, Director, Center for SRVSS, Division of Student Life
• Cassandra Pegg-Kirby, Director, Women's Center, Division of Student Life
• Yvette Roberts, Assistant Director, Center for SRVSS, Division of Student Life 
• Sarah Robinson, Graduate Student, Clinical Mental Health Counseling, Graduate Assistant,  Women's Center, Division of Student Life
• Elizabeth “Liz” Schmidt, Ohio Field Organizer, National Lawyers Guild
• Meghan Schwind, Assistant Director, LGBTQ+ Center, Division of Student Life
• Bobbie Szabo, Assistant Director, Wright State Women's Center, Adjunct Faculty in Women Gender and Sexuality Studies 
• Kristin Williams, Director of Student Success, Crummer Graduate School of Business, Rollins College

The Women’s Center has also announced the 2025 G.E.A.R. Awards recipients. This year’s awardees include Aislinn Foran in the student category, Iris Harvey in the community category, Jennifer Marcinkiewicz in the faculty category, Jennie O’Connell and Yvette Roberts representing the Center for Sexual and Relationship Violence Support Services in the staff category and Elizabeth “Liz” Schmidt in the alumni category.

The event will celebrate and recognize each awardee and nominee’s achievements in moving the gears toward gender equity.