Weber women march in D.C.

Emily Crooks

January 24, 2017

Kenna Hill, Amanda Williams, Kyia Hill and Professor Stacy Palen pose for a photograph. The group of Weber State University scientists traveled to Washington D.C. to participate in the Women's March on Jan. 21. (Source: Kenna Hill)

In a time when women nationwide are standing up and raising their voices, four Wildcat women traveled to Washington, D.C., to participate in the rally. The women chose to share their reasons for marching with The Signpost.

“Joan Baez said ‘Action is the Antidote to Despair,’ so I signed up for the women’s march and let everyone know I was going. It was something I could do, that I had never done before, to raise my voice in support of the environment. Many other women from the Ogden area were also going, each for their own reason. We started a GoFundMe site to make sure that women who wanted to go could go, and I shepherded a group from Weber to join a larger group (organized by my college roommate!) that was traveling down from New Jersey. We met up with my mom, my aunt and 52 others on the bus to travel down and make our voices heard.

“Standing in D.C. with more than half a million people who care about the same issues that I do was an incredibly powerful experience. Finding out later that there were four million people worldwide standing in solidarity was even more powerful. And then to find out that the entire protest was peaceful, that there was not one arrest in D.C.? That just confirmed the feeling that I had when I was packed in too tightly to move on Independence Avenue — this was a sisterhood of women everywhere, expressing power without force in support of the ideals that we believe in. These ideals don’t fit well in a tweet, but if I were to try to sum them up, I would say ‘Equality for every person everywhere, on one green Earth.”

-Dr. Stacy Palen

Dr. Stacy Palen is a professor of physics at Weber State University. Climate change is discussed in her Environmental Physics and Astronomy courses, and she cited climate as one of her many reasons to march in Washington.

Amanda Williams stands with a "Yes We Can" poster at the Women's March in Washington D.C. on Jan. 21. (Source: Amanda Williams)

“I decided to march because I felt like I had no voice and wanted to make a statement. Climate change needs to be addressed, and everyone has a fundamental right to feel safe in this country. I wanted some constructive way to tell the incoming administration what really matters to me and most others.

“Going to the march was electrifying; so many people in one place and you could feel the support for these causes. My hope is that we can take that feeling back home and do something productive and get involved locally.”

-Amanda Williams

Amanda Williams is a junior studying physics at Weber State University.

Kenna Hill lifts her sister Kyia Hill up during the Women's March in Washington D.C. on Jan. 21. (Source: Kenna Hill)

“Today I marched for many reasons. I marched to ensure that MY body has a voice and that it WILL be heard. I marched for my mom, six sisters, four nieces and all other ‘nasty women’ that couldn’t be there with us. I marched for climate change. The climate will continue to change regardless of who is denying it. CLIMATE CHANGE IS FACT and we have no time to waste.

“This is only the beginning of my political activism. It was the most incredible thing to be apart of and such a unifying, peaceful and uplifting movement. We broke records today. We made history today, together.”

-Kenna Hill

Kenna Hill graduated from Weber State University in Fall 2016 with a degree in Botany and Environmental Studies. Her sister, Kyia Hill, a junior at Weber State University who studies geography and environmental studies, marched with her.