Center for Women & Gender Equity Gets Ready to Lead the Conversation

After nearly 20 years on campus, the Women’s Resource Center (WRC) has embarked on an exciting chapter, beginning with its new name, the Center for Women & Gender Equity (CWGE), along with a refinement of its vision statement. As the new title makes clear, the center aims to maintain an intentional space for women while also inviting people of every gender identity to share in deepening conversations related to gender equity.

Actress Alyssa Milano’s tweet last October—calling for women who have been sexually harassed or assaulted to join the conversation by using the hashtag Me Too created by Tarana Burke—launched a national dialogue about the pervasiveness of gender inequity and the links between privilege, marginalization, and victimization. The movement’s revitalization underscored the need to talk about intentional space for women and people of all gender identities in tandem with gender equity. With this in mind, I surveyed SMC students and alums about their experiences with the WRC. I also queried directors of women’s centers and gender equity centers from across the country about the scope of their work and their names. The reflections and analysis ultimately led to the name change, Center for Women & Gender Equity. The name reflects SMC’s Lasallian core principles and can resonate with everyone in the community who believes in the notion of equity.

The WRC Passes the Baton to CWGE

The CWGE’s theme for this celebratory year is “Small Things Matter: Celebrating 20 Years of Small Victories.” It speaks to the slow but steady pace of progress for women and gender equity.

I come to this work with a background in journalism and social responsibility, which has led me to believe that by sharing our stories, we can change minds and hearts, while impacting the world around us. I’ve learned that change happens one step at a time, often in bite-size pieces. Looking back at an interview I did with Angela Davis at the 2010 National Women’s Studies Association Conference in Colorado, I find Davis’ words still resonate—change is really the cumulative effect of small victories.

“We rarely actually win the victories we think we are going to win,” Davis said. “But in the process of engaging in campaigns and struggles with social justice, we do end up changing the world—we do end up changing the terrain.”

Angela Davis was among the WRC’s first guest speakers when it opened its doors during the 1998–’99 academic year. Since that time, the WRC has also hosted Gloria Steinem, Eve Ensler, Medea Benjamin, Wanda Johnson (the mother of the late Oscar Grant), Hard Knock Radio’s Davey D, Marcia Chatterlain (the founder of #Ferguson Syllabus), and a host of other activists and agents of change.  

Most recently, nationally acclaimed 97-year-old National Park Service Ranger Betty Reid Soskin visited us. Reid Soskin first participated in the WRC’s Wo/men’s Conference in 2010, well before she was noticed by the national television networks and honored by President Barack Obama. Over the years, Reid Soskin has emphasized that history is written and remembered by who is at the table—and that there is space for multiple truths. The great-granddaughter of a slave, mother of four, lifetime activist, blogger, and songwriter told the SMC community that she is a living history, and she made our campus the first stop on her book tour for Sign My Name to Freedom.

“I’m now living in the future that those of us who were marching in the streets in the sixties helped create,” she said. “Those hordes of people protesting in the streets are now of every color, every ethnicity, every economic class—and they are marching as Americans. It is an amazing thing to have lived through.”

Where the CWGE Will Take Us

This year, CWGE honors the work of the alums, students, and faculty who made the WRC a reality and celebrates the future by offering a number of valuable programs. On Oct. 10, the CWGE will host “Do What You Love & Make Ends Meet” at 7:30 p.m. The program will feature alums who have put SMC’s slogan “Enter to Learn, Leave to Serve” to practice by living out their vocations and passions as a teacher, a preschool educator, a caseworker, an artist, an attorney, and a dad. On Friday, Nov. 16, the CWGE will offer cake and community art throughout the day to celebrate the birthday of the WRC and its passing of the baton to the CWGE.

The CWGE will launch Women’s History Month on March 1, 2019, in collaboration with the Campus Assault Response Education Center, with an official open house and ribbon-cutting ceremony. There will be tours of the space throughout the day and a formal program commemorating the progress at 3:30 p.m. in the CWGE.

On March 8, the center will host a daylong symposium called “Because Small Things Matter: Celebrating 20 Years of Small Victories.” Throughout, we will host workshops and innovative discussions featuring students, staff, and faculty who have worked in the space over the years, further celebrating our heralded past and exciting future. The infamous Reid Soskin will give the keynote address.

Stay tuned for many exciting programming opportunities throughout the year!