EPCC
celebrated International Women’s Day (IWD), on March 8. IWD
is a yearly global celebration of the adversities women in history
have seen and overcome. It has been celebrated in many countries including
the United States since 1909.
EPCC celebrated this holiday with guest speakers Karla Mariscal and
Patti Diaz at the Valle Verde campus.
Karla Mariscal, an Emmy Award winning reporter for Noticias 26 Univision,
talked about her personal experiences from working in the media, answered
questions from the audience and signed autographs after her speech.
Mariscal was born in Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, and graduated
from the Autonomous University of Chihuahua in 1998. Mariscal has
been a part of the Univision team since March of 2000.
“Sometimes you get a sad story, like someone died,” Mariscal
said, “and you have to be emotionally and professionally prepared
for that.”
Patti Diaz, disk jockey and manager of Power 102.1 FM, spoke about
her climb to manager of the hit radio station.
“I have had to defeat the odds,” Diaz said. “Radio
is a very male-dominated field. I had to become one of the guys, but
I held my own.”
She also spoke about her experiences of growing up in a low-income
family of eight and the encouragement she got from her family while
reaching for her goals. Diaz said she felt that she “grew up”
at the radio station.
“If there’s something you want to do, and you really want
to do it, don’t let people tell you no,” said Diaz. “When
you set your mind on something, accomplish it. It doesn’t matter
what it is.”
In her opinion the biggest difference between radio and television
media, was that “we share so much more of our lives and personalities,
where in news, they have to just deliver the facts.” After taking
questions from fans, Diaz revealed that though it’s a male-dominated
station, “Women, ages 18-32, are our most common listeners.”
Campus Life sponsored the event and gave away popcorn and soda. Diaz,
who was not only an EPCC student, but also a student DJ at KCCR, said
she felt privileged to be asked to speak at the event. “I meet
people and they might not recognize me, but others come up to me because
they recognized my laugh,” said Diaz.
Prior to the currently celebrated IWD, there were uprisings against
clothing and textile factories in forms of protests on March 8, 1857.
Though the United Nations (UN) tried to raise awareness politically
and socially to change laws concerning low wages and poor working
conditions. It wasn’t until 1975 that the UN gave official sanction
to sponsor IWD.
The holiday was first initiated by the UN on February 28, 1909, after
several major historical events, such as, the Triangle Shirtwaist
Factory fire, in 1911, where over 140 women lost their lives.
In many other countries, Women’s Day is celebrated much like
Mother’s day, but lawmakers such as Congressman Silvestre Reyes,
City Representative Susie Bird and County Commissioner, Veronica Escobar,
hope to keep it as one for recognition and resolution.
These three El Paso lawmakers were in Washington D.C. for IWD giving
speeches, “to sponsor resolutions officially recognizing the
achievements and struggles of women around the world and supporting
the goals on IWD,” said a spokesperson for Reyes.
