This Monday, the American Association of University Women (AAUW) invited the accomplished journalist and researcher Sarah Smiles Persinger to speak on behalf of women around the world. The organization began their presentation in the McGarvey Commons at 6:30 p.m. The room was filled with not just Behrend students, but members of the community, and the Erie branch of the AAUW.

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The AAUW was formed in 1881, and has prided itself on its dedication to bettering the lives of women for more than 130 years. Through research programs, educational funding, and policy and legal initiatives, the organization has found ways to, “level the playing field for girls and women.”

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The AAUW of Erie has been particularly active in the last several weeks, and has teamed up with Behrend’s University chapter to provide events like this. Persinger moved to Erie several years ago and welcomed the opportunity to speak on behalf of the AAUW on campus.

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Persinger has written in multiple news sources, such as “The Age”, based in Melbourne, Australia, and “The Daily Star” in Lebanon. She has also written in several books on her research topic, women in the Middle East. Her experience as a journalist was a significant part of her life, leaving home at 23 to explore the world and report on issues that drew international attention. Though she went to college, she had never had an official job as a reporter before she left, instead choosing to go find the stories herself and sell them to news organizations for a number of years. Persinger spoke to the crowd about the friends she made in her time overseas, how they reported together throughout the Middle East, and how doing that for such a long time affected her.

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“What I saw and what I learned as a reporter, I don’t think I ever could have learned in a library. I learned a lot about myself, I learned what I’m capable of, but I also learned a lot about the world around me,” Persinger said.

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Persinger also discussed her research from nearly two decades ago, which was centered around women in the Middle East and the world that they experienced. During the presentation, she noted some of the most interesting actions that she had seen during her time as a reporter; the beheading of prostitutes, the relaxing of patriarchal institutions that generated physically dangerous environments for many women, and her own perception of Saddam Hussein’s actions in Iraq. Her identity as a woman gave her a specific viewpoint in this field and in world affairs.

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“Through telling my story today I hope to inspire people to believe that they are capable of things that they never believed that they were capable of,” Persinger said near the end of her presentation, “I say to young girls here today, just go for it, go for it.” Persinger appealed to the women in the organization and on campus and used her experience to showcase the equality that the organization is striving for.