Anayeli Elias-Rodriguez ’28
Saturday, January 17th, 2026, marked the 10th annual women’s march, calling for people to participate in a short walk around downtown Ventura to support women’s rights. The rally began in Plaza Park, full of stands for different organizations showing their support in participation in the rally. The main organizers of the event were Indivisible Ventura, Justice for All, and Planned Parenthood. Indivisible Ventura and Justice for All are both activist organizations focusing on supporting the community by defending local congressional advocacy. Planned Parenthood fights for and supports Planned Parenthood sites.
The Female Aligned Student Association (FASA) organized some cars for this event so that interested students could go and show their support for women’s rights. Among the attendees were faculty drivers Melanie Berner and Juliet Henderson.
The rally started in the plaza, where many booths lined the paths of the park. The booths were from organizations representing the organizer groups, like Planned Parenthood and others, who also provided extra resources and opportunities to get involved with their cause. These organizations reflected the diversity and variety of concerns that people were rallying for. One group, called La Causa, even had youth representatives. CAUSE (Central Coastal Alliance for United Sustainable Economy) is a group dedicated to creating local impact for issues surrounding social, economic, and environmental justice in working-class and immigrant communities. They offer support for people to write emails to city officials regarding issues within the community that they want to see change in. The idea is that the organizations participating in these protests and offering resources take into consideration civic action as a whole throughout all types of change and impact that can be made. With their youth representatives present, the importance of civic engagement for younger people was made evident; they felt strongly about how they could make an impact within their community. They found it important that their own engagement with these types of issues highlighted the fact that, because the current youth is the future, people like them should feel encouraged to take action and learn to have a strong voice.
A strong voice within the youth is important, and one thing Ms. Berner noted, especially for Thacher students, is that it’s good to get off campus and participate in this sort of event. In last year’s protest, she valued the engagement and level of interest that the students brought, as well as the conversation with others, and how they showed a level of maturity and thoughtfulness. This action and participation in this sort of event let students take part in meaningful initiatives, helping show support for the local communities.
This has been the fourth year Thacher has taken students to this event, with some returning students eager to have the experience again. In a conversation before arriving at the plaza, Zora Khaira ‘28 mentions how participating in this event made her feel like she was a part of something greater than herself. Along with many of the other people attending this event, there appeared to be a strong passion present for the protection of women’s rights. Similarly, both she and Ms. Berner gave the impression that this rally was impactful, meaningful, and highly beneficial for the participating community. Specifically for the Thacher community in this participating event, Ms. Berner spoke about how in the years past, the older generation has always been excited to see the support of the younger generation. This was present as there were many instances in which protesters commended various students and the institution for facilitating and encouraging participation in the rally.
This year’s theme for the rally was “Courage is Contagious,” exploring ways in which communities can stand up for the well-being of their society, especially in the challenging times we face today. While this rally is centered around the protection of Women’s rights, there were many more underlying themes and reasons why people were attending. In a mosaic of colorful signs with powerful phrases, there were references to women’s rights as well as references to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and in general, critiques of the Trump administration.
Throughout the rally, the many reasons why people were taking the time to walk with others were evident. The older folks at the rally, even if they just stayed at the plaza, made it clear that they wanted to show support for rights that would give themselves, their children, and grandchildren a better life. Healthcare was one key point, as it is known that Trump’s decisions have made large steps to take these and many other fundamental rights from not only women, but also children, and the rest of the population. The courage of older generations coming out to fight for these rights to ensure that the future of this country stays hopeful for the younger ones is inspirational, and they encourage the youth to go out and demonstrate for their own future.
Overall, there is no one reason that the people and organizations attending found themselves at the rally. Whether it stemmed from standing up for women’s rights or protesting ICE, all of these movements share many pulses. Each has a desire for some change within the current administration. Youth engagement, as seen with this rally and many others, is powerful- it encourages hope for the future and helps the next generation find their own voice, and fight for their upcoming version of America. It takes many things for a rally like this to come to life- starting with one idea, but maybe it requires more to keep the fight alive. While this rally is one of the many ways people can show their interest in civic engagement, there is no one way to do so. The rally was a beautiful demonstration of people from all backgrounds, coming from different experiences, but also an event representing not just their signs but the lives of the hands holding them. This is one example of courage, but courage can also take many forms- and it can start with small actions, to larger ones like this rally, which then create larger opportunities for change.
Indresh Chandel