Devils Host Gender Equality Night March 8 | RELEASE

NEWARK, NJ - The New Jersey Devils will host their annual Gender Equality Night on Tuesday, March 8, 2022 when they face off against the Colorado Avalanche in a 7 P.M. contest at Prudential Center. The night will feature the Devils' first-ever gender equality themed warm-up jerseys, created by local artist Amrisa Niranjan.
The jerseys will feature a marble texture with a mixture of red, pink, purple and white colors throughout the numbers, crest, and patches. The crest and shoulder patches have layers of rings in it to represent the depth and layers in the discussion of gender equality and how it takes time and work to build each layer. The crest shows key dates in gender rights' history.
The first date is MDCCCLI (1851), in which former enslaved woman turned abolitionist and women's rights activist, Sojourner Truth delivers her famous "Ain't I a Woman?" speech at the Women's Rights Convention in Akron, Ohio. The second date is MCMXX (1920), when the ratification of the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution is completed, declaring "the right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex." The third date is MCMLXIII (1963) when the Equal Pay Act was signed into law, prohibiting sex-based wage discrimination between men and women performing the same job in the same workplace. The fourth date is MCMLXXII (1972) Title IX of the Education Amendments is signed into law. It states: "No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance." The fifth and final date is MCMXCVIII (1998), which is when women's ice hockey took place for the first time at the Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan.

"It represents the fluidity of what gender itself means," Niranjan said, "the marbling look is the result of blending many colors and figures into one image, and in a way each of us is a piece of the greater picture, fusing together to define what gender equality will ultimately mean. Each ring could be considered a ripple in moving the notch forward on progress towards gender equality."
The jerseys will be available for auction from March 8 through March 15, with proceeds benefitting Devils Youth Foundation. Fans can bid on the jerseys by visiting
newjerseydevils.com/genderequality
.
The Women's Sports Foundation (WSF) will be attending the game and will host an exclusive pre-game event, where one of their community partner groups will skate at the RWJBarnabas Health Hockey House prior to joining the Devils game. The Foundation was established in 1974 to advance the lives of girls and women through sports and physical activity. Their mission is to enable all girls and women to reach their potential in sport and life. The Women's Sports Foundation president is our very own Meghan Duggan, the Devils Manager of Player Development. Learn more about WSF at
WomensSportsFoundation.org
.
During the game, for the first-time in franchise history, the Devils will have all-female digital broadcast. The team's broadcast on the
Devils Hockey Network
presented by RWJBarnabas Health will feature Kelly Schultz as play-by-play announcer and Erica Ayala as color commentator. Schultz has 15 years of play-by-play experience and is currently the radio voice of the Bemidji State University Division 1 women's hockey team. Ayala is a sports writer who has covered basketball, hockey and other sports for espnW, ThinkProgress, Deadspin, and numerous other publications. She has worked as an analyst on PHF/NWHL broadcasts and is the host of Founding 4 Podcast and co-founding writer of The IX Newsletter. NJD.TV pre-game and post-game shows will be led by a full female talent group with Catherine Bogart and Amanda Stein.
During the game, Gender Equality themed scoreboard graphics, LEDs, and screensavers will be used throughout the night. The Devils National Anthem singer Arlette will sing the National Anthem prior to puck drop and Junior Captains Caitlyn and Campbell Choi from the New Jersey Colonials Girls Hockey Program will take the ice with the starting lineup. The NJSIAA Girls State Championship team will be honored during the game after their victory on Monday, March 7th at Prudential Center. Theresa Maughan, a high school social studies teacher from East Orange, will be honored as the New Jersey Education Association's Teacher of the Year. The Devils will also honor Commander Cheryl Turner as Hero of the Game presented by Prudential. Turner is a Master Sergeant E-7 with 23 years of service in the US Air Force. She has been deployed five times over the course of her career and has received an extensive list of awards throughout her career. Commander Turner is the CEO and Founder of New Hope Village 4 Veterans, which assists the veteran in all their needs from housing, clothing, medical care, VA clinics, food, and employment. Commander Turner is the fourth black woman to be elected and serve as the State's Vice Commander.
Fans watching the game at home can follow along on the Devils' social media channels to see Gender Equality themed graphics, game coverage and more. There will be an exclusive conversation in the Legacy Lounge with warm-up jersey artist Amrisa Niranjan, which fans will have the opportunity to watch leading up to the game. The sit-down interview will talk about how she came up with the design for the jersey, her background, and her experience on working on the jersey. Later this month, Emily Kaplan from ESPN will appear on the Speak of the Devils podcast presented by RWJBarnabas Health during the month of March.
Fans can purchase tickets to the game by visiting
newjerseydevils.com/tickets
. Fans can follow the Devils at @NJDevils for the most up-to-date news on

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