Biola University is celebrating National Women’s History Month and hosting the 10th annual Ruby Awards this month. Biola will honor and empower women throughout the month of March and strive to inspire change through conferences, chapels, events, and two new publications.

A new blog kicked off the month — GRIT, a new collective resource for undergraduate women including interviews with alumnae, tips on achieving professional success, advice on living through seasons of struggle and how to live a biblical life. The resource launched on Biola’s Student Life website on March 1. The term “grit” is defined as strength of one’s passion to meet a long-term goal. The name is also an acronym for the areas that the blog will be exploring —  gifting, resilience, insight, and tenacity.

On Saturday, March 3, the Woven Conference offered encouragement to women in their professions and spiritual lives. The speakers of the conference included Charlena Ortiz, the founder of Grit & Virtue, an organization dedicated to ensuring women thrive by having quality resources and encouragement, Helen Mitchell, former Vice President of AT&T and now a speaker, author and consultant to business leaders and pastors, and Scharrell Jackson, member of the board of directors and executive committee of Human Options and a member of the board of directors for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Orange County.

On March 22, two events will take place, Anna Sinclair, adjunct professor in the media, journalism and public relations department, will speak during the university’s Women’s History Month chapel at 9:30 a.m. and students will release a one-time publication magazine, Shotgun, which will includes stories of women dedicated to empowering women.

On March 24, Biola is partnering with the Council for Christian Colleges & Universities in organizing the second annual Women in Leadership Conference. This conference is designed for women of all ages, stages of life and professional development. Faculty, staff and students who aspire to higher levels of influence and professional development are invited to attend this event.

During the conference, the 10th Annual Ruby Awards will take place. The Ruby Awards is a ceremony dedicated to celebrating women in the Biola community who inspire others with their unique voice of courage. The awards will be presented to three women comprised of alumni, staff, faculty, students or friends of the university.

At the end of the month, Student Programming and Activities will host two events dedicated to National Women’s History month. The first event will take place on March 27 and will explore the value and roles of sisterhood in the community. The next event will take place on March 29 which will center around a panel discussion with Tamra Malone, professor James Petitfils, and Nell Sunjukian. Panelists will discuss the lessons they have learned about understanding and emulating stories of sisterhood from the Bible. Lunch will be served and the event is free and open to everyone.

Events are open for members of the university and community to attend. For more information, please visit the Biola University events website.

Written by Brianna Miller, media relations intern. For more information, contact Jenna Loumagne, media relations manager, at (562) 777-4061 or jenna.loumagne@biola.edu.