Migration Category: Campus Old Site

Last week the Feminist Majority Foundation hosted an “Open House” at FMF’s Los Angeles office for the Leadership Alliances in the region. FMLAs from CAL STATE LA, UCLA, UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA, FULLERTON COLLEGE, and CERRITOS COMMUNITY COLLEGE met and discussed plans for their region and their upcoming Rock for Choice concert.

Congratulations to the Leadership Alliances at FULLERTON COLLEGE who recently launched and will be holding their first meeting this week!

The Leadership Alliance at IOWA STATE UNIVERSITY recently performed the Vagina Monologues to an audience of 500 people, and donated the proceeds, totaling $1200, to their local women’s shelter. The Leadership Alliance at the UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL FLORIDA held a benefit concert and will be donating their proceeds of $945 to the Harbor House, a local domestic violence shelter. Congratulations to both groups for their hard work and successful fundraising!

The Feminist Majority Leadership Alliance at EAST STROUDSBURG UNIVERSITY held their Women of Distinction Awards last month, honoring women who have done great deeds for other women and society. Every year the group honors 2 students, 2 faculty/staff, and 2 community members, along with a pro-feminist man. This year State Senator Lisa Boscola gave the keynote address at the ceremony.

FMLA Activists from across the country are traveling to DC for the National Council of Women’s Organization’s Women’s Equality Summit and to Hampshire College for the Civil Liberties and Public Policy conference “From Abortion Rights to Social Justice: Building the Movement for Reproductive Freedom.” Both conferences will take place next week and will allow students to explore the ways in which reproductive rights are linked to other social justice issues as well as hear major feminist leaders speak to issues of racial equality, economic justice, and reproductive right, among other issues.

Congratulations to the new Leadership Alliances and affiliates at the UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS AT BOSTON, UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA AT CHARLOTTE, EASTERN KENTUCKY UNIVERSITY, SAN FRANCISCO STATE UNIVERSITY, SAN JOSE STATE UNIVERSITY, OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY, and TEMPLE UNIVERSITY.

The SAN JOSE STATE UNIVERSITY Leadership Alliance’s first general interest meeting was videotaped and aired on their campus television news station. For their first events, the UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS AT BOSTON FMLA organized a panel discussion with faculty to highlight women’s accomplishments and the importance of women’s history, hosted a panel on women’s reproductive health, and conducted a teach-in for the group about transgender issues.

Congratulations to all of the new FMLAs!

Check out all of the groups currently participating in the Choices Campaign.

The FMLA at the UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT EL PASO (UTEP) is working with the Coalition on Violence Against Women and Families on the Border to organize a silent protest against the murders of hundreds of women in Juarez. The group also plans to host a major concert to raise awareness of the murders of over 400 women in Juarez, Mexico and to mobilize feminists to take action end this violence. They groups also plans to use this consciousness raising event to fundraise for Casa Amiga, the only rape crisis center and battered women’s shelter in the entire city of Juarez, Mexico and its surrounding areas that comprise a population of over 2 million people. Casa Amiga has lots all of its government funding and are working solely off of donations.

The Gender Public Advocacy Coalition proudly announces its 2nd annual National Conference on Gender from May 18-20, in Washington, DC at the Washington Hilton in Dupont Circle. NCG unites, informs, and connects all Americans — gay, straight, transgender, youth, feminist — who are committed to ending discrimination and violence caused by gender stereotypes. Keynote speakers this year includes: John Cameron Mitchell, Hedwig and the Angry Inch and Pauline Mitchell, mother of Freddie Martinez, Jr. For more information, call 202-462-6610 or visit their conference site.

Congratulations to Feminist Majority Leadership Alliances at SOUTHWEST TEXAS UNIVERSITY and SOUTHWEST STATE UNIVERSITY in Minnesota for building new websites to represent their groups online! Visit these new sites, check out other websites for groups in your area, or create a website for your group. It’s quick, easy, and a great way to strengthen your group.

Does your campus offer emergency contraception? Tell us about your campus and learn how to raise awareness and fight for greater reproductive choice on campus!

On a campus where the Student Health Center does not provide birth control, the MERCER UNIVERSITY Feminist Majority Leadership Alliance is making quite an impact with students! Leadership Alliance activists have distributed 500 condoms on campus and in the process have educated their peers about the lack of access to contraception on campus. Brandi Brown, Mercer FMLA activist, states “we’ve found out that a lot of students who have never needed to go to the health center for birth control didn’t realize that it isn’t available.” In addition, the group is distributing Prescribe Choice materials to educate students on the benefits of emergency contraception and mifepristone.

The new Leadership Alliance affiliate at OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY tabled to educate their campus about the threats to abortion access in judicial appointments and the Supreme Court and showed FMF’s “Never Go Back” video on campus.

The MARIETTA COLLEGE Leadership Alliance organized a letter-writing campaign sending letters targeting their campus paper in support of emergency contraception and against abstinence-only sex education programs. The Campus Newspaper Editor told the group that their letters solicited an unprecedented amount of feedback. The SPELMAN COLLEGE Leadership Alliance will promote reproductive rights during their “FMLA Week,” a week with major events to take place each day during the week of March 25th- March 28, 2002. They’ll kick off the week with a Reproductive Health Fair, where local pro-choice organizations such as the Feminist Women’s Health Center, the Spelman College Health Services, and the Georgia Reproductive Advocacy League will table with resources and information on pro-choice issues. The group also plans to have a table at the fair with information on reproductive rights and a feminist trivia game! The FMLA week will also feature a “Focus on Feminism Training” mandatory for FMLA members considering running for an elected office for next year, a visit to the Feminist Women’s Health Center in Atlanta, a Feminist Career Fair with various grassroots and social and political activist groups looking to recruit students, an African American Women and Film Symposium, and a feminist convocation on the Socialization of the Spelman Woman. Utilizing a grant from their campus Prevention and Wellness Center, the WESTERN WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY Leadership Alliance hosted a screening of “If These Walls Could Talk” and was featured in their campus paper for promoting the pro-choice message.

The PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITY Leadership Alliance is organizing a Conference on Women’s Health and Wellness, March 22-24, 2002. The conference will feature distinguished keynote speakers, including Wendy Sanford, founding member of Boston Women’s Healthbook Collective and original contributor to Our Bodies Ourselves, and Sarah Weddington, the lawyer who won Roe v. Wade. The group has already received campus-wide support for the conference, with diverse co-sponsors that include the Penn State American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), Iota Iota Iota, University Student Government Women’s Affairs, Students for Accountability and Reform (STAR), Lamda Delta Omega (LDO).

For more information, email conference organizers at womens_health_conference2002@hotmail.com, or visit their conference website.

Earlier this month, dozens of Leadership Alliance activists came together to attend a Mid-Atlantic Regional Training organized hosted by the Feminist Majority Foundation’s Campus Organizers. Leadership Alliance activists and students from the UNIVERSITY OF DELAWARE, GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY, AMERICAN UNIVERSITY, GOUCHER COLLEGE, THE COLLEGE OF WILLIAM AND MARY, MARY WASHINGTON COLLEGE, and THE COLLEGE OF ST. MARY’S (MD) had the opportunity to learn about feminist issues including the right-wing opposition, Prescribe Choice campaign to promote mifepristone and emergency contraception on campus and the Campaign to Stop Gender Apartheid in Afghanistan. Students were also able to hone their leadership and organizing skills through workshops on press and media, recruitment and retention, and event planning.

Although International Women’s Day is celebrated on March 8th, our groups continue to work for women’s rights around the world during Women’s History Month and throughout the year.The GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY Leadership Alliance organized a panel on international women’s rights with speakers from around the world discussing their firsthand experiences and general women’s rights in their native countries. The group also celebrated National Day of Appreciation for Abortion Providers by organizing a table where students created personalized thank you cards, which were then delivered to a local abortion clinic. The AUBURN UNIVERSITY Leadership Alliance celebrated International Women’s Day by organizing “Sixteen Days of Activism Against Gender Violence,” a campaign of the Global Campaign for Women’s Human Rights which raises awareness about violence against women on a global scale. On a local level, the group hosted presentations addressing domestic violence in their county with a speaker from the Auburn Domestic Violence Intervention Center; on a more global level, they organized presentations on international sex trafficking with a speaker from the Coalition Against Trafficking in Women. To celebrate International Women’s Day, the UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN AT GREEN BAY Leadership Alliance created a display on the Global Gag Rule which Bush reinstated which currently prohibits international family planning programs from receiving U.S. funding if they provide information, referrals, or counseling on abortion, even if they use their own funds to do so. To learn more about international family planning, abortion access and reproductive rights, and to take action, check out Unit 6 of the Study and Action Manual online. LEARN MORE Click here to read women’s narratives about barriers or successes in accessing reproductive health and family planning services.

Leadership Alliance activists across the nation have organized major events to educate and raise awareness about violence against women. Last month, many groups participated in “V-Day” a global campaign for the elimination of violence against women where feminists fundraise and organize performances of Eve Ensler’s Vagina Monologues on their campus. Throughout the year, our groups participate in V-Day and other events to promote work to eliminate violence against women. Earlier this month, the OGELTHORPE UNIVERSITY Leadership Alliance organized a production of the Vagina Monologues and had an audience of over 300 students for their two performances. The BROWN UNIVERSITY Leadership Alliance organized a benefit concert to raise funds for a local domestic violence shelter. The UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL FLORIDA Leadership Alliance organized a musical benefit to support domestic violence agencies that included performances from a diverse number of local bands. The ILLINOIS STATE UNIVERSITY Leadership Alliance participated in a production of the Vagina Monologues which raised 5300 dollars for the cause.

The newly forming SAN JOSE STATE UNIVERSITY Leadership Alliance organized their first general interest meeting this week. The meeting was a huge success, with many students and faculty in attendance. The group also garnered much media attention during the meeting, with the campus newspaper, campus radio station, and main campus news television station reporting back from the meeting!

Due to the success of past faculty/student dinners, the BROWN UNIVERSITY Leadership Alliances hosted another faculty/student dinner last Tuesday. The group invited faculty from the Education and Religious Studies Department and an Associate Dean and discussed the women, the workplace, and motherhood. The PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITY Leadership Alliance brought Gloria Steinem, Ms co-founder, to campus to discuss contemporary issues in feminism.

The UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA AT OMAHA Leadership Alliance organized a presentation on campus organizing and the Feminist Majority Foundation’s Campus Leadership Program at the “No Limits 2002” Conference organized by the Women’s Studies Departments at the UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA AT KEARNEY, UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA AT OMAHA, and theUNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA AT LINCOLN. The UNIVERSITY OF DELAWARE SAGE-FMLA hosted a lecture with Kim Gandy, the president of the National Organization for Women. The CERRITOS COMMUNITY COLLEGE Leadership Alliance plans on brining Mavis Leno, the Chair of the Feminist Majority’s Help Campaign to Help Afghan Women and Girls (formerly, the Campaign to Stop Gender Apartheid in Afghanistan), to lecture on the current situation for women in Afghanistan.

Congratulations to the new Leadership Alliances at HAMLINE UNIVERSITY, THE UNIVERSITY OF OREGON, THE UNIVERSITY OF IOWA, AND NORTH SEATTLE COMMUNITY COLLEGE! Facing an uphill battle in getting recognized by a resistant student government, the feminist activists at Hamline University organized a petition drive and collected 400 signatures of support for the group and were finally chartered!!! Great job!

Congratulations to Northeastern Illinois Leadership Alliance for laboriously collecting hundreds of signatures to demand a Women’s Studies Department. Their Board of Trustees voted unanimously for the creation of the department and the president noted the strong support from the petitions collected by the Leadership Alliance members.

Women’s History Month is in full swing and the Leadership Alliances are organizing events nationwide: The BROWN Leadership Alliance raised money and awareness for the Campaign to Stop Gender Apartheid in Afghanistan and organized petition drive to protest the Global Gag Rule.

On International Women’s Day, the CAL STATE LOS ANGELES Leadership Alliance organized a lecture on female sweatshop workers in Mexico by an undercover reporter from FOX 11. The RUTGERS Leadership Alliance organized a film screening of “If Hope Were Enough” which educated students about the International Criminal Court. The SHORELINE COMMUNITY COLLEGE Leadership Alliance organized a Pro-Choice Film Festival and Women’s Equality Bake Sale. Using facts on reproductive rights from Unit 2 of the Study and Action Manual, the Leadership Alliance at the U OF WISCONSIN, GREEN BAY educated their campus on the history of contraception through displays across their campus. The Leadership Alliance at the UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA brought Michelle Wood, FMF staff from the Los Angeles Office, to campus to speak about the National Clinic Access Project and clinic violence.

Congratulations to the Leadership Alliances at ST MARY’S COLLEGE, HUNTER COLLEGE, PORTLAND COMMUNITY COLLEGE, and WESTERN KENTUCKY UNIVERSITY for building “online offices” (interactive websites) for their Leadership Alliances!

We have a special place for *your* Leadership Alliance on feministcampus.org! Linking your site to feministcampus.org will allow you to increase your campus site’s traffic and hits, outreach to a larger audience, connect with other campus groups, and enhance your site with chat and bulletin boards, and an interactive events calendar (coming soon) FOR FREE! Create a website for your group without html experience at or to learn new web skills, email the Campus Online Coordinator Debbie Castro, Debbie@feminist.org.

Leadership Alliances nationwide are planning major events to celebrate the achievements of feminists and the women’s movement. During this month, your group can work for reproductive rights worldwide on International Women’s Day (March 8th), and support abortion rights at home on the National Day of Appreciation for Abortion Providers (March 10th).

Check out what actions are currently underway by our groups across the nation: The Leadership Alliance at CAL STATE LOS ANGELES, along with the Women’s Resource Center, will present “Revolution Grrrl Style!” a symposium on women and music. This full day of panels and films will focus on women’s experiences in Hip Hop and Punk Rock, featuring musical artists, filmmakers and performance artists.

For event details, check out http://www.calstatela.edu/usu/revolution.html The U OF CHICAGO Leadership Alliance will bring feminist author Paula Kamen to their campus. Kamen, author of “Her Way: Young Women Remake the Sexual Revolution,” and playwright of “Jane: Abortion and the Underground,” will speak about today’s changing sexual roles & choices.

The BRANDEIS UNIVERSITY Feminist Majority Leadership Alliance will feature “Feminist Week 2001,” a weeklong event to promote reproductive rights, the voice of young feminists and multicultural feminism. Highlights will include a 2-night feminist film festival, feminist forums and lectures, and a coffeehouse fundraiser featuring local bands to promote choice.

The recently launched Feminist Majority Leadership Alliance at INDIANA UNIVERSITY, is participating in a campaign to stop Senate Bill 3, an anti-abortion bill which would impose hospital building regulations on abortion clinics, a change which is unreasonable, unnecessary, and would effectively shut down virtually every abortion clinic in Indiana.

The ST. LAWRENCE LEADERSHIP ALLIANCE is organizing a public education campaign about Bush’s recent anti-choice appointments and will flyer their campus with facts and statistics from the Transition Watch website, www.transitionwatch.com. Visit www.transitionwatch.com for current news and online activism.