In honor of women and nonbinary leaders on campus, Texas Orange Jackets held their annual Week of Women service events from March 23-27. The week included a line-up of volunteer and celebration events. They kicked off with Texas Tea, a collaboration service event between the Orange Jackets and Minority Women Pursuing Law.

“We built over 150 menstrual kits, and we donated another box of supplies, like additional supplies, toothbrushes, toothpaste, hygiene stuff, a whole box of that as well,” said Sophia Kuriakose, alumni and traditions director of Texas Orange Jackets and graduate student. 

The Orange Jackets donated the kits to Texas Harm Reduction Alliance, a nonprofit dedicated to serving individuals at risk of opioid overdose in Austin, according to its website. The event also featured a guest presentation about UT’s menstrual equity initiative and where to find free period products on campus.  

“When I think about equity, I really think about accessibility as a priority for as many people as possible,” said Kritika Ramesh, guest speaker and neuroscience honors junior. “Week of Women is really about celebrating the leaders who are women around campus and the impact that they’ve made on campus, so I am really, really honored to have spoken at their first event on Monday.” 

In addition to the Texas Tea event, the Orange Jackets organized free barre classes at the Recreational Sports Center and held a random acts of kindness day to promote well-being and health.

“(We were) able to amplify voices and encourage one another through activities that we did, such as attaching little notes all over UT campus as a form of uplifting each other,” said Ananya Tirumala, a neuroscience junior. “We also did chalk on the sidewalk all around West Campus as a form of that.”

Kuriakose said the tradition began as a TAP, which is a first-year member, project in 2001, with a brief pause in programming around the COVID-19 pandemic. Kuriakose said the TAP class of 2023-24 brought back Week of Women events.

“We usually do it the last week of March in honor of Women’s History Month to celebrate and uplift female voices on campus, to remind them that they’re special, they’re appreciated and they matter,” Kuriakose said. 

The Orange Jackets raised around $3,000 throughout the week for the Settlement Home for Children, their primary philanthropy. At the end of the week, they hosted a charity party at Tejas Club, all proceeds going to the settlement house in addition to the other money raised.

“The motto that you’ll hear a lot of Orange Jackets say for Texas is, ‘For Texas, I will,’ and it basically implies, to me, a heart of sacrifice and service for making your community a better place,” Kuriakose said. “We need to celebrate women, and we need to celebrate each other. … For me, Week of Women is about giving back to this community that has given me so much.”