Freshman Maggie Williams attended her first march in 2017 when her mom took her to the women's march in Indianapolis.
“I stood in that day hoping and praying that I would not have to worry about the things that I was being told and listening to,” Williams said. “I'm still here. I'm 19, and I'm still worrying about them.”
On Sunday, over 70 people gathered at Showalter Fountain for the IU Women’s March. Williams, organizer of the demonstration, collaborated with Theta Nu Xi, Women in Government, Girl Up at IU and IU Student Government to plan the event focused on community and solidarity.
Williams began planning the march in December when she started feeling a sense of helplessness following the 2024 election. She pitched the idea of a women’s march to multiple campus organizations, and since then, she’s regularly met with student leaders to arrange details.
Local bands Bachelorette and Opal performed live music and Pili’s Party Taco brought in a food truck. Club booths offered supplies for attendees to make posters.
Bloomington-based rock band Opal performs at the IU Women's March on March 9, 2025, at Showalter Fountain in Bloomington. IU freshman Maggie Williams invited them and another local band, Bachelorette, to perform Sunday.
Some demonstrators carried signs advocating for transgender rights, abortion access, equal pay and other political causes.
“Equal pay, cause we slay,” one read.
Junior Graciana Leonard, one of the attendees, held a sign reading, “Women’s rights are human rights” in pink and purple lettering.
Leonard said the state and federal governments are challenging women’s rights.
“I think it’s important to understand that reproductive rights are human rights for women,” Leonard said. “It’s not just a women’s issue; it’s a human right’s issue.”
IU students Ella Dyer and Isha Elandassery pose with signs March 9, 2025, in front of the IU Auditorium in Bloomington. Many attendees of the IU Women’s March made signs with similar slogans.
After performances from the live bands, Williams introduced a speech from senior lecturer in the international studies department Nicole Serena Kousaleos, whose research has focused on gender violence and human rights.
Kousaleos encouraged attendees to speak out for women’s bodily autonomy.
“It is time to stand up and stand together, to stand shoulder to shoulder, to challenge the broligarchs who want to shut us up and tell us, ‘Your body, my choice,’” Kousaleos said.
Students Lucy Schoettle and Casey Krusch also advocated for bodily autonomy with signs protesting anti-abortion laws.
In August 2023, Indiana implemented Senate Enrolled Act 1. SEA 1 eliminated all state licensure of abortion clinics and required them to be performed in licensed hospitals instead. Additionally, the law placed limits on who has access to abortion services.
Abortions are only permitted if the procedure is necessary to prevent any serious health risk of the pregnant individual, if the fetus is diagnosed with a lethal fetal anomaly up until 20 weeks post-fertilization or until 10 weeks if the pregnancy is result of rape or incest.
Gigi Rivera, co-president of WIG, helped plan the women’s march. In 2022, Rivera protested Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita’s visit to campus. His visit included a discussion of Indiana’s near total abortion ban.
Rokita has an extensive anti-abortion campaign, including co-leading a multi-state coalition defending a Georgia law prohibiting most abortions after heartbeat, which usually occurs about 5-6 weeks after conception.
“By helping preserve pro-life laws in other states, we can prevent precedents that might endanger pro-life laws here in Indiana,” Rokita said in a December press release.
Attendees create signs at the Girl Up at IU booth on Sunday at the IU Women’s March. Multiple clubs offered signs for attendees to make their own.
Rivera said protesting Rokita’s 2022 visit inspired her to aid in planning this event, which she saw as an opportunity for community building on campus.
“We want women to feel like they have a community at this campus, in this town, as well as that they still take up space,” Rivera said. “Though there have been a lot of messages that discourage this in our government and our news recently, we all stay together.”
Williams’ mother and grandmother both attended the march to support her. Mary Pat Sharpe, her grandmother, was also politically active in college and hopes that advocacy for women’s rights won’t continue to be necessary.
In the meantime, Williams hopes to create a committee or club that continues this kind of advocacy.
“I would not be standing here today if it weren’t for the efforts of the women that came before me. Those who stood up, never backed down and took blow after blow in an effort to get you all here to where we are today,” Williams said. “I will not go back.”
