UCI Festival Spotlights Issues Among and Between Women : Education: Organizers say this year’s events are especially appropriate given that the school has its first female chancellor.

To kick off national Women’s History Month, UC Irvine on Tuesday launched the campus’s first WomenFest, a three-day celebration of cultural performances, art shows and speakers, highlighting the struggles and accomplishments of women.

For UCI, WomenFest ’94 is especially appropriate, festival planners said, given that its new chancellor, Laurel Wilkening, is the first woman at UCI to hold that title.

Wilkening opened the noon ceremony, praising the efforts of the students and faculty who worked to launch the festival and lauding the perseverance of women who made the historic month a national recognition.

“With our new chancellor on board, this was the best of all years to have this celebration,” said Wendy Sayers, who chaired the planning committee.

Paula Goldsmid, another festival organizer and director of UCI’s Women’s Resource Center, said WomenFest ’94 seeks to recognize “the issues among women and between women.”

“Women have different interests, issues and priorities among one another, and we want to emphasize those differences as well,” she said.

Other activities include cultural performances, an arts and crafts fair and various exhibits on campus. Also, a video festival today and Thursday focuses on the different cultures of contemporary literary women. The show includes 30-minute videos featuring Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Toni Morrison and emerging roles of Asian women and Latinas.

Today at 2 p.m., a panel of students will discuss “beauty” across ethnic and cultural lines. At 5:30 p.m., Irvine psychologist Dr. Valerie Gold-Neil will present “HIV: Women’s Voices,” a presentation she created, directed and produced.

On Thursday, a panel of women will debate the usage and connotation of “feminist.” The scheduled panelists are Betty Hanna-Witherspoon, pastor of Turner AME Church in Culver City; Jane Newman, associate professor at UCI; Chanzo Nettles-Taalamu, who chairs Senut Sisterhood Society in Los Angeles; and Lisa Marquise-McClanahan, coordinator of the Bayview Chapter of National Organization for Women.

WomenFest ’94

In conjunction with national Women’s History Month, UC Irvine is hosting its first WomenFest, a program of cultural performances, art shows and speakers. The following is a list of activities. For more information, call (714) 856-6000.

TODAY

* 10 a.m.-2 p.m.: Arts and Crafts Faire

* 11 a.m.-3 p.m.: Video Festival (continuous videos featuring Toni Morrison, Maxine Hong Kingston, women’s history, Alice Walker and women in the media)

* Noon-1 p.m.: Women’s band, Liquid Sunshine

* 2-3:15 p.m.: Student panel, “The Beauty Myth”

* 3:30-5 p.m.: “The Politics of Style in African-American Clothing: Race, Class and Gender”

* 5:30-7 p.m.: “HIV: Women’s Voices,” Dr. Valerie Gold-Neil, with panel discussion

* 7:30 p.m.: Film: “Passion Fish”

* 8 p.m.: Women’s Comedy Night

THURSDAY

* 11 a.m.-3 p.m.: Video festival

* Noon-1 p.m.: Cultural performances

* 3:30-5 p.m.: “Feminist/Womanist: Naming Our Experience”

* 5:30-7 p.m.: “An Evening with Angela Davis”

* 7:30 p.m.: Film: “Working Women”

* 8 p.m.: Singer/musician Amee Chapman

ALL WEEK

* Main library exhibit: “Women’s Activism and Resistance Around the World”

* Women’s Resource Center: “Outstanding Women in History” (multicultural photo exhibit)