{"id":15813,"date":"2026-03-30T14:15:42","date_gmt":"2026-03-30T18:15:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/pr\/?p=15813"},"modified":"2026-03-30T14:15:43","modified_gmt":"2026-03-30T18:15:43","slug":"umes-100-women-in-heels-march-focuses-on-empowerment-recognition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/pr\/umes-100-women-in-heels-march-focuses-on-empowerment-recognition\/","title":{"rendered":"UMES\u2019 100 Women in Heels march focuses on empowerment, recognition"},"content":{"rendered":"
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University of Maryland Eastern Shore students Masarrah McDade and Madison Abdus-Sabur organized the 100 Women in Heels empowerment march held on March 26.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Empowering each other as women inspired two University of Maryland Eastern Shore students to launch a campus-wide 100 Women in Heels march. The event took place on March 26 on the University\u2019s campus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Masarrah McDade<\/strong> and Madison Abdus-Sabur<\/strong> came up with the idea for fellow female students to walk together as they work together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen I think of heels, I think of empowerment, being able to push through the pain, and how pressure creates diamonds,\u201d said McDade, a junior marketing major.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

More than 100 women \u2013 students, alumni, faculty, and staff \u2013 joined the march procession, which began at the Ella Fitzgerald Center for the Performing Arts and concluded at the Student Services Center Theater. Event participants each donned professional attire and heels.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Participants in the 100 Women in Heels empowerment march line up for a picture at the Ella Fitzgerald Center for the Performing Arts.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

McDade said the concept for her 100 Women in Heels march was based on an event held last fall called 100 Men in Suits. The November procession, which was spearheaded by Student Government Association president Armani Dukes<\/strong>, focused on men\u2019s mental health following the death of a recent UMES graduate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen we saw the 100 men in suits, we thought, \u2018Why can\u2019t we have a march for women?,\u2019\u201d she said. \u201cSo many of our clubs on campus are led by women, and sometimes, most people do not know or give them thanks. Women have run UMES since we were founded in 1886, so I am really happy to give this to all the trailblazers.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chief of Staff and Vice President of Presidential Strategy Latoya Jenkins<\/strong> said the impact of the event is a testament to the engagement of students such as McDade and Abdus-Sabur.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur student leaders truly have a voice here on campus,\u201d Jenkins said. \u201cBeing able to see them lead in the classroom and advocate for student needs out of it showcases what can be done when they collaborate with campus partners and the administration.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Senior Sydney Rutledge-Smith<\/strong> was among the students who attended and participated in the march. She said having an event that recognizes the work and dedication of the women on the UMES campus was empowering.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cA lot of women on this campus are making history just being part of an HBCU campus,\u201d Rutledge-Smith, a digital media studies major, said. \u201cWe have so many women doing amazing things here, and I wanted to be part of this movement as a woman who has found her place and is growing into womanhood.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

McDade, who was smiling from ear to ear at the sight of so many women participating in the march, could not hold back her excitement about the turnout.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe energy was amazing. I feel at my most comfortable when I am around women and this was a beautiful scene,\u201d she said. \u201cBeing able to come together to support other women \u2013 friends, sisters, cousins \u2013 it\u2019s the most powerful thing. When are able to come together, we can be a force to be reckoned with.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Empowering each other as women inspired two University of Maryland Eastern Shore students to launch a campus-wide 100 Women in Heels march. The event took place on March 26 on the University\u2019s campus. Masarrah McDade and Madison Abdus-Sabur came up with the idea for fellow female students to walk together as they work together. \u201cWhen…Read more UMES\u2019 100 Women in Heels march focuses on empowerment, recognition<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1559,"featured_media":15811,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","wds_primary_category":1,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"post_folder":[],"class_list":["post-15813","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/pr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15813","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/pr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/pr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/pr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1559"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/pr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15813"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/pr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15813\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/pr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15811"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/pr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15813"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/pr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15813"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/pr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15813"},{"taxonomy":"post_folder","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/pr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post_folder?post=15813"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}