Center for women is a dream come true

The grand opening of the new Women’s Resource Center at Georgia College & State University was held on Tuesday, March 1.

President Dorothy Leland gave a welcoming address where she congratulated the students who initiated the program and expressed her pride in their accomplishments.”

“These students really did their homework. They had researched women’s centers, researched them in Coplac, looked at the functions they served in an institution and presented various models,” Leland said. “Even though the university was facing a budget crisis, they found a way to make it start anyway.”

Jennifer Graham Stephens, student director of the center, said in a press release that the Women’s Resource Center was established to enhance the learning and work environment to women in both the university and the Baldwin County community.

She extended her welcome to all who were in attendance of the grand opening ceremony and encouraged everyone to feel free to utilize the new environment and feel comfortable while there.

Dr. Jane Rose, professor and assistant to the vice president for academic assessment, was one of the speakers at the opening and noted how far the Women’s Studies Program at GC&SU has come and how the center will further its advancement.

“This thrilling and important next step in women’s studies is that we have these students taking on these leadership roles,” Rose said. “These students we see here today were impassioned enough with the need for society to address women’s issues, and the need for that sort of microsociety that is a college campus to also address those needs.”

The women’s center was proposed in late 2003. It is now the fourth women’s center of its kind in the state and the second center of its type at a Georgia public university.

“I remember talking with the girls almost two years ago when they had the idea for the women’s center. I was so excited for them and shared with them my ideas and suggestions,” said Dr. Robin Harris, associate professor in the Department of Government and Sociology and director of experiential learning. “So many of our students dream dreams, but they don’t always have what it takes to get to follow through, but these girls have it.”

Harris was also a speaker at the grand opening and expressed her excitement for the future of women at this university and how this new center is a very special gift to everyone.

“Young women now have a place where they can come and talk and deal with these issues and help them learn who they are,” said Harris.

There are many events lined up for the month of March to correlate with Women’s history month, such as the Brownbag Lunch Series and the “Rosie the Riveter” series that will serve as an empowerment tool to women on this campus and in the community.

The Women’s Resource Center is open from 12 to 5 p.m. Tues. through Fri. For more information, please contact Stephens at (478) 445-8165 or Jennifer_graham1@bobcat.gcsu.edu.

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Mar 4 2005. Filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry