Students are invited to the Student Union Atrium Tuesday to discuss the importance of equal pay in the U.S. in honor of Equal Pay Day.
Hosted and supported by the Office of Student Involvement, Women’s and Gender Studies Program, School of Performing Arts, Center for Success of Women Faculty, UCF Library and Academic Affairs, the date symbolizes just how far into the year women must work to earn what men earned in the previous year.
“My salary effects my children and the opportunities they might have so when I think of pay gap and people say that’s a woman’s issue I say no that’s a family issue particularly is this country,” said M.C. Santana, Director of Women and Gender Studies. “We want to make an impact, and allow students to be exposed to this information.”
The event will begin at 8 a.m. until 4 p.m. after which students will head over to the reflecting pond for a group photo.
“It’s important to have events like this to bring awareness and change to the female struggle for equality,” said UCF alumni Kevin James. “Women are equally as valuable as men are and they should be compensated accordingly. Like yesterday.”
Women in the United States are currently making 22-46 percent less than men according to the Pay Equity website.
“I think men should know and research they pay inequality statistics, so they can recognize when and where this type of discrimination occurs,” James said.
Posters are welcome, and students are encouraged to wear the color red as it is meant to symbolize how far women and minorities are “in the red” with their pay.
Students can learn more about the wage gap and the Equal Pay Act by visiting U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
Originally published April 3, 2017