Surrounded by the smell of matcha lattes and chai, seven Lafayette College women sat down to speak to interested students about how their female identity impacts their career experiences.
“What I learned most thinking about my identity: we need allies,” Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies professor Mary Armstrong said. “We need each other.”
About 50 people gathered in ThreeBirds Coffee House after hours on Saturday to watch two panels celebrating womanhood as part of the Student Government-hosted “Sip & Speak” event in honor of International Women’s Day.
The speakers were split across two panels, with time for the invited speakers and attendees to mingle. The first panel consisted of Armstrong, Ellen Poriles Weiler ‘83 and Helena Koffigoh ‘23.
Armstrong was asked how her identity as a woman impacts her position as a Lafayette professor, specifically in interacting with different college constituents like students and administration.
“I’ve noticed that I am the same in both classes, but I get different responses with students sometimes,” said Armstrong, who teaches both Women, Gender & Sexuality Studies and English classes.
Three of the panelists, including Weiler, the chair of the Council of Lafayette Women, identified Armstrong as a figure who influenced their time at Lafayette.
“She has had a tremendous impact on me as a mentor,” Weiler said about Armstrong, who she said gave her “the tools” to make the council more inclusive.
“I can’t imagine anything more gratifying than someone saying, ‘You lifted me up, you made me smarter, you made me feel empowered,’” Armstrong said after the panel. “It’s why I teach.”
One student identified Weiler’s desire to make the council more inclusive as an important message of the night.
“As long as people are willing to grow or willing to be more open, if it’s being a woman or any other identity, I feel like it’s good that we’re having these conversations as well, and it empowers the students here,” Katherine Jaimes ‘27 said.
Koffigoh spoke of not fitting into the stereotype of women in finance, telling the audience that learning where she fit into that system and “actively trying to make space” for herself has had “the biggest impact.”
“These Docs are like, six years old, they have a hole in the back of them and I wear them to work every single day,” she said, comparing herself to the “traditional” image of a woman in high heels.
Twenty people stayed for the second panel, which featured Isabella Stoto ‘22, Jaimie Bandur ‘15, Edoukou Aka-Ezoua ‘17 and Katie Livornese ‘14.
Stoto, a graduate school student, was asked about the transition from Lafayette to her current institution. She recounted advice she was given by Carlos Tavares, a sociology professor and an advisor on her senior thesis, when she was doubting her abilities to succeed in her field as a woman of color: “If you’re in the room, you belong there.”
When asked about her experiences in the male-dominated STEM field, Bandur, who works as an infection preventionist, described working with men who “have complexes about them.”
“Being a woman, having to deal with these people, I don’t take their bullshit, and as a result, I’ve earned their respect,” she said, earning applause from some audience members.
Some attendees expressed that they felt inspired.
“They said they hope it becomes the annual event, and I also hope it comes back because I would love to come again,” Ashley Cardona ‘27 said.
The event was organized by Student Government Vice President Sasha Carter ‘27 and Inclusivity Officer Luna Garces ‘27, who said they wanted to cultivate a cozy, accessible space and “break out from the normal Marlo room-type events.”
The organizers said they hoped attendees walked away from the event being able to imagine themselves on a panel like “Sip & Speak.”
“We do want to foster more people in leadership in general, but women in leadership is big for us,” Carter said.
“Everyone in this room has the capacity to do those things because there’s a specific way that women look at things that is different,” Livornese said of the accomplishments of inspirational women she has met. “We need more of those ideas and more of that way of thinking in order to really innovate and change the world.”
Selma O’Malley ’26 contributed reporting.
