Women's Plaza Seeks More UA Names

Women's Plaza Seeks More UA Names

By Alexis BlueUniversity Communications
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The Women's Plaza of Honor is a "living memorial" for Arizona women, past and present.
The Women's Plaza of Honor is a "living memorial" for Arizona women, past and present.
The plaza's publicity committee wants to encourage UA departments to add the names of more University women to the plaza.
The plaza's publicity committee wants to encourage UA departments to add the names of more University women to the plaza.

When Regents' Professor Jane Hill retired after 26 years at the University of Arizona, there were the customary farewell celebrations and gift-giving rituals that often accompany such career milestones. But there was one honor bestowed on Hill upon her departure that set her UA legacy in stone – literally. Her name was engraved on a brick in the UA's Women's Plaza of Honor, a space dedicated to women who have made an impact in Arizona.

"I was very moved," said Hill, an anthropology professor who retired in June. "It was a surprise."

Hill's colleagues in the Graduate College's second language acquisition and teaching program arranged for the engraving, adding her to a list of about 600 women – from Tucson moms to well-known historical figures – celebrated in the plaza.

In hopes of adding even more UA women to the plaza's ranks, the plaza publicity committee has launched the "Honoring Our Own" campaign to encourage UA departments to honor their female members through one of several naming opportunities.

"The idea behind 'Honoring Our Own' is to encourage departments on campus to celebrate the contributions and lives of women who work at the University of Arizona," said Angela Storey, a research assistant in the department of gender and women's studies. "We have so many amazing women faculty and staff, as well as students."

Among the many University women already honored in the plaza are Louise Foucar Marshall, the UA's first female full professor; Sharon Kha, a former University spokeswoman; and Regents' Professor Ofelia Zepeda, a well-known poet and author. There also is an arch engraved in honor of the "First UA Women Administrators."

Completed in 2005, the Women's Plaza of Honor, located just west of Centennial Hall, was designed to be a gathering place for people to hold special events or just sit to relax. It also serves as a living monument and source of historical information about women of the Southwest, Storey said.

The shady oasis includes a fountain, benches, paved walkway, cement arches and an electronic kiosk where visitors can look up the names and read the stories of women honored in the plaza.

Throughout, women's names appear on bricks, benches, trees, pillars and more. Remaining naming opportunities range from a $250 paver to $15,000 brick seating areas. Proceeds go to the gender and women's studies department's Elizabeth Lapovsky Kennedy Endowment, named for the former head of the women's studies department who was the driving force behind the plaza's creation. The endowment funds the Women's Plaza of Honor Fellowship, which supports students in the gender and women's studies doctoral degree program, now in its third year, said Caryl Flinn, head of the gender and women's studies department.

"Now, with the budget challenges we face, the opportunity to support these students means the world to us," Flinn said.

With Mother's Day just around the corner, now might be an ideal time to consider honoring a special woman in your life in the plaza.

Engravings are done twice a year, near the beginning of the calendar year and near Mother's Day, which falls on May 9 this year. Those who request an engraving now will see it added to the plaza next Friday or Saturday, said Shannon Ritchie, administrative assistant in the gender and women's studies department.

If you are interested in honoring a woman in the plaza, see the Women's Plaza of Honor website for details on current naming opportunities and to make a donation, or contact Ritchie at 626-0656, sritchie@email.arizona.edu.

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