by Sage Hinkleman | Staff Writer

On January 20, women and men gathered together across the country to launch the 2018 Women’s March agenda: Power to the Polls. One of these peaceful gatherings took place in Falls Park in Greenville, SC. Quite a few PC students attended this rally, along with several faculty members.

The Women’s March 2018 Facebook page states that “This anniversary event will kickoff a voter registration campaign, and will harness our collective energy to advocate for policies and candidates that reflect our values and to collaborate with our partners to elect more women and progressive candidates to office.”

Lesley Preston, Chair of the Department of Theatre at PC, was one of the many professors who attended the rally. She is currently teaching a course about women in theatre, which focuses on feminist theatre history, and felt an obligation to attend this march. Preston said that another motivation for attending this march was her investment in breaking the glass ceiling.

She stated that last year’s election “Made me realize there is a deep vein of misogyny in our culture. People should be who they want to be, without gender getting in the way. This applies to men as well as women.” Preston said that she sees hope in the younger generation, and that if there is a rally next year, she will be attending.

The Associate Professor of Religion at PC, Dr. Kirk Nolan, attended the 2018 march in Greenville as well. He was unable to go to the Women’s March in Washington D.C. last year, so he joined his wife and kids at the Greenville march this year.

“I believe very strongly in women’s equality. That doesn’t happen naturally, it requires political action. Even when men in position of power are sympathetic, they come at issues from different angles,” Nolan said.

Nolan’s children accompanied him at this march and were proudly holding creative signs that they had made themselves. One of his daughter’s signs said “Revolution”, with the e-v-o-l highlighted (love spelled backwards).

Nolan had a few reasons for attending the rally. “Beside the political reasons, I wanted to go because of my faith. As I read the gospels, I see Jesus’ concern for women pop up again and again.”

As many women and men in America gathered together on January 20 to march for women’s rights, the PC community was marching strongly as well. Students, staff, and the faculty of Presbyterian College rallied hand in hand in Greenville, putting aside their differences to unite for a common cause