This past August, the Women in Engineering (WiE) Program hosted the WiE Welcome YOU Event, geared for incoming female engineering students to meet their new engineering community across all of the disciplines in the college while trying Vol-inspired treats.

The event included entertaining games while providing students the opportunity to meet the various women-centric student organizations and some of the TCE faculty and staff who they will be working with during their time at UT.

Amelya Fox, a sophomore studying biomedical engineering, wrote about her experience at the event.

“The program provides the representation and inspiration that can be difficult for women in engineering to find,” Fox said. “At WiE Welcome YOU, we could forget that we’re the minority in terms of engineering students and simply celebrate how far we’ve come. I’m honored to have helped introduce so many young women to the power this community holds.”

The faculty members involved in the event enjoyed making connections with new students in a stress-free, informal setting.

Director of the engage Engineering Fundamentals (EF) Program Rachel Ellestad was one of the faculty members who took part and found the event to be beneficial to students and faculty and staff alike.

“I really enjoyed the event,” she said. “It was wonderful to play bingo with the new students and get to know them in a fun, relaxed environment. I got a chance to meet a lot of new students that are in my EF class this semester.”

Under the leadership of Director Jalonda Thompson, the Women in Engineering program focuses on developing initiatives that create a welcoming, helpful, and inclusive campus community for female engineering students. In order to address these issues, the program is working with a variety of university departments and units to identify ways that they can create an equitable environment for women on campus.