Local organizers try to maintain the Women's March energy.

On Jan. 21, when thousands of marchers converged on the CSU Monterey Bay campus, the size of the crowd exceeded expectations. Not everyone could fit inside the Otter Sports Center for a pre-march rally.

Estefania Rodriguez and Jacqui Smith, both students in CSUMB’s masters of social work program, had spent their winter break organizing a local chapter of the Women’s March, planned in Washington the day after President Donald Trump’s inauguration.

Rodriguez and Smith were overwhelmed by the turnout, having expected only fellow-MSW students to show up. As people kept coming, Smith says she thought it was all an elaborate hoax.

Due to traffic, the march started an hour late. But the delay provided a time for women from all walks of life to mingle and talk. “Everyone was able to connect and truly speak deeply about the issues they’re passionate about,” Smith says.

The crowd, primarily female, held signs and sported pink knit “pussy hats,” a symbol of women taking back the word since a video was released last October that captured then-candidate Donald Trump saying, “Grab ’em by the pussy.”

However, Rodriguez and Smith say, their message isn’t anti-Trump. Instead, as social workers, they say they were intent on promoting unity and inclusiveness across racial and class lines. “The young generation thinks white people are the problem,” Smith says. “But rich white women are marching for those who can’t represent themselves.”

The CSUMB organizers, like the those behind the Women’s March on Washington, have received criticism for failure to represent the spectrum of class, sexual orientation and racial diversity. But Smith pushes back: “Look at the pictures! You have to search for white people in the front of the crowd!”

Rodriguez believes what the CSUMB marchers lack in diversity can be made up for by harnessing the energy and excitement generated by the march.

“I know what it feels like to be unwanted, and that’s not here,” she says. “We’re soldiers. We have energy, momentum and a rhythm to our movement. We’re ready.”

About six weeks after mobilizing thousands of women, Smith and Rodriguez are looking at what’s next. The national march organizers have been encouraging people to send postcards about different issues to their lawmakers. On March 8, Smith and Rodriguez plan to participate in the national women’s strike, and hold a panel discussion at Wave Street Studios in Monterey from 1-4pm.

Smith, who says she’s exhausted after organizing the march, says, “I was ready to sit down and do homework! But women are hungry. They want more. We won’t let the momentum die until we get what we want.”