November Student Organization Spotlight
Student Organization Spotlight: GirlUp
Wake Forest University GirlUp Club envisions a world where all girls, no matter where they live, have the opportunity to become educated, healthy, safe, counted and positioned to be the next generation of leaders. As WFU club members we take action by organizing awareness, fundraising, and advocating.
Q: What is GirlUp? What are some of the organization’s main goals?
Cele Daly: “GirlUp is a United Nations Foundation organization, meaning we are one of many clubs internationally! Alongside the other clubs on high school and college campuses, our main goals are based on five pillars- education, health, leadership, safety from violence, and being counted. Everything we do on and off campus aims to advocate for these pillars or in some cases raise money for GirlUp’s charity, SchoolCycle.”
Q: What is your role in advocating for gender equity and raising awareness for women and gender issues on campus?
Cele Daly: “I️ think our main role in advocating for gender equity/raising awareness for women and gender issues on campus is educating our members about these issues and providing them with resources to combat them. Each meeting we focus on a new topic or issue! For example, a few weeks ago we talked about The Keep Girls in School Act (KGISA) that’s currently in Congress, and then we provided our members with guidance on how to contact their representatives in Congress to advocate for the bill to be passed.”
Q: Why did you decide to join GirlUp?
Cele Daly: “I️ decided to join GirlUp in high school as a way to learn more about gender equity issues and meet other girls who shared the same interests as mine, so when I️ saw it at Wake’s involvement fair, it only made sense to join the club again to continue learning more and meeting others!”
Q: What are some of GirlUp’s future goals?
Cele Daly: “A large part of GirlUp tends to be advocating in the form of fundraising for SchoolCycle, so oftentimes, our goals are focused on how much we want to raise. Last year, we raised over $1,200, so despite COVID impacting how things work this year, we are hoping to match that again this year!”