Cassandra Pegg-Kirby, director of the Women’s Center, wanted to expand the genres of books she reads when she came across “Ashley’s War: The Untold Story of a Team of Women Soldiers on the Special Ops Battlefield” by Gayla Tzemach Lemmon.
“[The book club] started because I’m really trying to read more books and broaden outside of my usual read,” she said. “I thought there’s all sorts of ways to look at women in leadership.”
Pegg-Kirby’s son recently joined the army and discussed with her the role of rangers, the Army’s combat experts focused on directing raids, Pegg-Kirby said.
Following this discussion, he sent a link to a Kent State Today article on the remembrance of 1st Lt. Ashley White, a university alumna, who served in Afghanistan, she said.
Once she began reading “Ashley’s War,” she thought of the idea of creating a book club open to anyone, held in the center to discuss the different roles female leaders have held.
“Ultimately, at the end of the day, I love reading books, and I was like, ‘If I’m going to read them, maybe somebody else will want to read them with me,’” Pegg-Kirby said.
In Afghanistan, White served as a member of the Special Operation Forces’ Cultural Support Team, facilitating conversations with Afghan women who could not talk to the men a part of the army, bridging the communication gap, she said.
For this role, White and other women on the team trained alongside rangers, the Army’s combat experts focused on directing raids, Pegg-Kirby said.
“They were outside with the [Afghan] women and children but they were in harm’s way,” she said. “They were in situations that the rangers were in because they were with them climbing up helicopters, they were running out [of helicopters].”
The center previously held a screening for the documentary film “The Invisible War” about sexual assault in the military, but Pegg-Kirby said she wanted to focus on a different narrative for women.
“It’s like can we flip the switch on this? Not that [sexual assault] doesn’t happen, but what about this woman who’s a younger woman in this really male-dominated field,” she said.
Pegg-Kirby said she chose “Ashley’s War” to be the book of the month for October to honor veterans.
Other books the club will discuss over the academic year include “Lead from the Outside: How to Build Your Future and Make Real Change” by Stacey Abrams, and “The Seed Keeper” by Diane Wilson, November’s book, she said.
Pegg-Kirby said she found Abrams’ perspective interesting as she lost Georgia’s gubernatorial election in 2022, an election to determine the state’s governor, yet she continued to advocate against voter suppression, attempts at preventing individuals from voting through discrimination of voter identifications.
“As I was listening to her book, I thought this is a really good example of someone who has something they’re passionate about, is going to do something and continues to show up in light of these challenges,” she said.
Anyone is welcome to attend the discussion on Abrams’ book on Sept. 30 at noon as Pegg-Kirby said finishing the book is not a requirement to attend.
“If we’re going to talk about it, maybe it’ll pique your interest, and you’ll want to read it afterwards,” she said.
Adriana Gasiewski is a reporter. Contact her at [email protected].
