Migration Category: Campus Old Site

The INDIANA UNIVERSITY AT BLOOMINGTON Feminist Majority Leadership Alliance hosted a successful and well-attended first general interest meeting, with 70 students in attendance. The group organized their meeting agenda in advance, following some guidelines from the FMF campus resources. The group is continually generating interest in feminism and combating stereotypes about the feminist movement. “We work on very important issues, such as reproductive rights for women which are currently threatened,” said senior Emily Roth, former president of the FMLA. “There are definitely stereotypes, like that feminists are man-haters, but that’s not the case because we actually have men on our executive board.” Great Job! The Feminist Majority Leadership Alliance at CENTRAL MICHIGAN UNIVERSITY also hosted a successful first general meeting earlier last month. The group had dozens of students in attendance as the event was so well publicized. The NORTHEASTERN ILLINOIS Feminist Majority Leadership Alliance hosted their 2nd annual “Chalk Talk” visibility event to raise awareness about feminist issues. During the event, FMLA activists and campus participants selected from a list of feminist quotes or chose their own inspirational quotes and chalked messages of solidarity on their campus grounds. A member of the group demonstrated traditional East Indian chalk art form as the centerpiece of the event. In addition, the group had an open mike set up in where feminists could read poetry, prose, or work related to feminism.

Last week, three members of the FMF Campus Team conducted the first regional training of the 2002-2003 academic year, bringing together over 35 Leadership Alliance and affiliate activists from BRANDEIS UNIVERSITY (MA), BROWN UNIVERSITY (RI), CONNECTICUT COLLEGE, UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS-BOSTON, and BOSTON UNIVERSITY. The daylong training included issue-based workshops on the three current Choices initiatives: Never Go Back, Emergency Contraception Over-The-Counter, and Get Out Her Vote; and skills-building workshops like event planning and recruitment.

According to Marissa Collins, BRANDEIS UNIVERSITY freshman and FMLA Get Out Her Vote co-chair, the training was productive, “It’s so incredibly helpful to have campus reps who are so readily available and the leadership training itself was so informative and very intensive. It really touched on a lot of aspects that sometimes get neglected when we’re talking about activism like the practical aspects, publicity and media.”

Each member of the BRANDEIS UNIVERSITY FMLA plans to do a presentation on what they learned at the training for other members of the group during their next meeting. Thanks to all the students who attended the training and we look forward to hearing from your groups!

Two officers from the TEXAS TECH FMLA participated in a Planned Parenthood sponsored pro-choice student leadership workshop and plan to bring new resources and training back to their group.

Despite the rain, over a hundred people attended the INDIANA UNIVERSITY AT BLOOMINGTON Leadership Alliance “Take Back the Night” events, participating in a march, vigil, and speak-out to raise awareness of violence against women. The FMLA led the march down the main street with a banner that artistic members helped to design. The march received widespread support from community members and onlookers, with one campus fraternity showing a banner of support for Take Back the Night and with members standing out on their lawns applauding. Several members of community and campus press outlets were at the event, and Joelle Petrus, IU Bloomington FMLA Communications Coordinator was interviewed for a local radio station to talk about the group, the issues, and the event. The group’s Take Back the Night event made the cover story of the campus paper that week and was written about in the Bloomington Herald Times.

Check out the press that the group received for the event on the Feminist Journalism Center online,

On Monday, October 7, thousands of students and activists will mobilize nationwide as part of the Alliance for Justice’s First Monday 2002 “Civil Liberties In A New America.” First Monday unites law school, college and graduate students and community activists in education and action to protect civil liberties.

First Monday events nationwide will premiere the new documentary, Not In Our Name: The Threat to America’s Freedoms, which focuses on civil liberties in a post 9/11 America by highlighting individuals who have been affected by new laws and policies. The film features actress Susan Sarandon and the music of Bruce Springsteen. Well-known historians and civil liberties experts including historian, playwright, and author Howard Zinn, George Mason University History Professor and Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Roger Wilkins, and Georgetown University Law Professor David Cole are also featured. You can order the film by contacting the Alliance For Justice office at 1-866-347-7866 or order on the web at http://www.FirstMonday2002.com.

Last week, a Texas court of appeals ruled that denying Medicaid funding to poor women seeking abortion violates their equal rights. Federal law prohibits the use of Medicaid funds for abortion, except in cases of rape, incest, or life endangerment. In a 2-to-1 decision, the appeals court ruled that using those guidelines violates women’s equal rights by restricting their access to medically necessary procedures, while men face no such restrictions. Judge Bea Ann Smith wrote the ruling, arguing that the decision applied to medically necessary abortion procedures only. Anti-choice advocates are protesting the decision, saying it will greatly increase the number of abortions among poor women. Pro-choice activists note that improving access to abortion could curb unsafe, illegal abortions among poor women.

In 1977, Rosie Jimenez became the first victim of the Hyde Amendment that bans the use of federal money for abortions except to save a woman’s life. Jimenez was a poor, single mother saving money for college who decided to have a back alley abortion instead of using her tuition money so that she could some day make it off welfare and support herself and her daughter on her own. To learn more about current restrictions on abortion and how to take action, check out the Study and Action Manual online.

With only one year since chartering, the UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA AT SAN DIEGO Feminist Majority Leadership Alliance (FMLA) has made a tremendous impact on the feminist and political climate on their campus.

Determined to establish a permanent feminist agenda on campus, FMLA activists worked to dispel current stereotypes about feminism and to transform the public debate on issues of importance to women’s lives. The group held a feminist Expo which featured information sessions, an organizational fair with over a dozen local reproductive rights and feminist organizations, and a “Faces of Feminism” wall of photos featuring celebrities, faculty, staff and students who identify as feminists.

According to FMLA President Corrine Hart, “[Now,] everyone wears our shirts: leaders on campus, guys, student government association [members]!” FMLA events chair Amy Uyeshima agrees that the event was transformative, “there’s a new buzz about feminism.”

Read more about the group and their amazing endeavors, http://www.feministcampus.org/featured/UCSanDiego_0802.asp

The next Congress will make decisions on issues that have a profound effect on women’s lives, including abortion rights, international family planning, judicial nominations, women’s economic rights, and environmental justice. Through our Get Out Her Vote campaign, students across the country will educate their campuses about the political power of the gender gap and the youth vote. Your student voter registration drives make *the* difference on Election Day. Get involved. Increase young women’s voting power and improve women’s lives! Facts, action resources, a fun election quiz, and more at http://www.feministcampus.org/vote.

More than 70 organizations, including the Feminist Majority Foundation, are demanding Emergency Contraception (EC) be approved for over-the-counter use. These groups submitted a join petition to the Federal Drug Administration (FDA) in February of 2001. Since then, the Women’s Capital Corporation, the manufacturer of Plan B ¨, has applied to the FDA to change the distribution status of Plan B ¨. from prescription to over-the counter.

FMF’s Campus Program has launched a major campaign to petition the FDA to make emergency contraception available over-the-counter. When taken within 24 hours of intercourse, EC is 95% effective in preventing unintended pregnancy. Tragically, many young women lack knowledge of or access to EC, often because of campus health care politics. These barriers must be removed.

Educate your campus about EC and organize your own local petition drive. Sign FMF’s national petition online, download petitions to collect signatures, and then mail the petitions to us so we can deliver them in bulk to the FDA!

http://www.feministcampus.org/prescribechoice/

Title IX (title nine) of the Education Act of 1972 prohibits discrimination against girls and women in federally-funded education, including in athletics programs. Title IX is the reason why girls and women have made such gains in education and particularly in sports. In 1971, only 294,015 girls participated in high school athletics. Today, over 2.7 million girls participate in high school athletics, an 847 percent increase, according to the Department of Education.

The Bush administration has called a “Blue Ribbon Commission” to hold a series of public hearings to evaluate the status and impact of Title IX. Women’s groups believe this to be the latest attempt to weaken Title IX. Young women across the country must tell the commission how Title IX has made a difference in their lives and on their campuses. We must debunk the myth that Title IX hurts male athletic programs.

Stay tuned for information about ways that you can support this landmark legislation for women and girls. In the meantime, check out https://feminist.org/sports/titleIX.html to learn more.

Congratulations to Angelina Fernandez, SAN JOSE STATE UNIVERSITY Feminist Majority Leadership Alliance leader, for being the first recipient of the Sandy Spalding Young Feminist Award. The San Jose chapter of the National Organization for Women created a fund to award a young activist who exhibits the same feminist principles as Spalding. Fernandez was presented the award at the Women’s Equality Breakfast, hosted by the Santa Clara County Commission on the Status of Women. The SAN JOSE STATE FMLA has big plans for the year, including a “What is Feminism” workshop to kick off the semester, a guest speaker on race and gender, and a Title IX panel on women in professional sports. We look forward to sharing their successful events with you in upcoming E-zines.

The Feminist Majority Leadership Alliance at SACRAMENTO STATE UNIVERSITY in California continues to do their part in promoting reproductive health access in their community. The group supports their local reproductive health clinic by participating in clinic defense each and every Saturday! Get involved in clinic defense! The Feminist Majority Foundation’s National Clinic Access Project is the oldest clinic defense project in the nation and leads efforts to keep women’s health clinics open in the face of harassment and violence by abortion opponents. Learn more about clinic defense, https://feminist.org/rrights/ncapabout.asp

The United States has the highest teen pregnancy, birth, and abortion rates and one of the highest rates of sexually transmitted diseases in the industrialized world. Yet, the United States federal government spends over $100 million per year on abstinence-only-until-marriage programs that censor information about contraception; and one-third of all secondary schools in the United States prohibit teachers from answering students’ questions about the prevention of pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases beyond discussing abstinence. Join Advocates for Youth in urging the President and Congress to stop supporting abstinence-only-until marriage education – education that restricts information about contraception beyond failure rates. Send a message to support responsible sex education – education that teaches young people about both abstinence and contraception. Take action and learn more: http://www.advocatesforyouth.org/ffyr/petition.htm Advocates for Youth fights for young people’s rights to honest, realistic sex education, family planning, and effective HIV/STD prevention programs in the United States and in developing countries, learn more about Advocates for Youth, http://www.advocatesforyouth.org/.

As the World Summit on Sustainable Development (Earth Summit) in Johannesburg, South Africa drew to a close yesterday, delegates agreed to add language to the final plan that guarantees access to comprehensive healthcare and reproductive services for women. The issue had become a roadblock during the last days of the international environmental meeting. While negotiations on the final plan were completed Monday, Canadian and European delegates were able on Tuesday to add the 10 words, “and in conformity with all human rights and fundamental freedoms,” to a paragraph that promotes the strengthening of women’s healthcare.

Canada originally proposed the inclusion of a specific statement of human rights tied to women’s healthcare in an effort to prevent such atrocities as female genital mutilation and to safeguard abortion rights. Without this language, countries would be permitted to hide behind traditional customs and laws to vindicate the denial of reproductive services and other healthcare to women – as the Taliban did in Afghanistan, where women were not allowed to go to the hospital, to be treated by male doctors or to work as doctors themselves. Although the wording matches other international declarations on the topic, the addition of the human rights language was opposed by a coalition that includes the United States, the Vatican and conservative Islamic countries.

The United Nations Population Fund, which recently had $34 million in funding blocked by the Bush administration, notes that 70,000 women die every year from unsafe abortions, and 585,000 perish during pregnancy and childbirth due to inadequate healthcare.

Executive Director of Women’s Environment and Development Organization June Zeitlin said that after hours of “intense negotiations,” summit delegates added the language in a slightly different place in the paragraph. “We won, we won,” Zeitlin exclaimed. “Never underestimate the women of the world.” (Source: LA Times)

For the latest feminist news, visit https://feministmajori.wpenginepowered.com.

Dr. Elizabeth Williams is committed to the fight for equality and very active in the feminist community at ST. MARY’S COLLEGE. She has served as the Feminist Majority Leadership Alliance Faculty Advisor for the past for past 4 years, as well as advising the Women’s Studies Living and Learning Center on campus.

Read more about her inspiring experiences in the feminist movement at http://www.feministcampus.org/featured/lwilliams_0802.asp

Last month, 50 feminist activists from across the nation gathered at the Feminist Majority Foundation’s annual Feminist Leadership Institute (FLI) in Arlington, VA. Students from FMLAs and affiliates in over 25 states participated in the institute, and kicked off FMF’s new EC OTC campaign to make emergency contraception available over-the-counter nationwide. These informed activists took the national mall in DC by storm with petitions, chants, pickets, posters, signs, and a burma shave. Check out photos from the FLI action on the national mall, http://www.feministcampus.org/fli_2002_photos.asp.

FMF would like to welcome the 2002-2003 Campus Team! A fantastic team of activists with tremendous organizing experience and expertise on reproductive choice and many other important feminist issues, the members of the Campus Team based in the Washington, DC office include: Alicia O’Connell from BOWDOIN UNIVERSITY in Maine; Anjali Bhasin from the UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA; Elisa Ortiz from UTICA COLLEGE in New York; and Serene Khader from the UNIVERSITY OF OREGON. New members of the Campus Team based in the Los Angeles-area office include Brisedya “Bri” Romero from CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITYÑFULLERTON and Jessica Roberts from the UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA.

The FMF’s Feminist Majority Leadership Alliances are preparing for an exciting year of education and activism on a range of feminist and pro-choice issues on campus. The FMLA’s and affiliates are united in a national movement through the Feminist Majority Foundation’s Choices campaign. Current Choices initiatives include: 1) GET OUT HER VOTE: Campaign to register and mobilize voters for the 2002 elections, as well as educating about the political power of the gender gap and the youth vote. 2) PRESCRIBE CHOICE AND EMERGENCY CONTRACEPTION OVER-THE-COUNTER CAMPAIGNS: Campaigns to improve women’s health services on campus, increase campus availability of emergency contraception and mifepristone, improve health center services for sexual assault survivors, and make emergency contraception available over the counter in the U.S. 3) NEVER GO BACK: Public education about the impending threat to legal abortion and the role of the Supreme Court in affirming or overturning Roe v. Wade. Stay posted–we’ll be mailing out three action kits in September with fact sheets, action ideas, sample letters to the editor, stickers, and more on each of these campaigns. FMLA and affiliates, please update your contact information to receive the mailing at your campus address, http://www.feministcampus.org/useredit.asp. Not on the mailing list? Request an action kit in advance! Visit, http://www.feministcampus.org/moreinfo.asp.

For many of us, the school year has begun, providing a whole host of opportunities for bringing in new members through first-year orientations, student activities/group fairs, and tabling on campus. FeministCampus.org has tips for finding feminists on campus, a recruitment timetable, and tips for recruitment strategies, http://www.feministcampus.org/recruitment.asp. Feminist activists at the UNIVERSITY OF NEVADA AT RENO, who are in the process of chartering a Leadership Alliance on their campus, are planning to conduct a heavy recruitment drive next week. The students’ plans include participating in their campus annual club fair and tabling with Feminist Majority Foundation and Campus Program materials. Welcome to the Leadership Alliance Network! The AUBURN UNIVERSITY AT MONTGOMERY Feminist Majority Leadership Alliance kicked off the school year with a Pay Equity Bake Sale, raising over one hundred dollars and generating interest with over 150 sign-ups! The group has received seven hundred dollars to organize their next event, an Equality Day Luncheon and FundraiserÑwe look forward to hearing back from the group on this event.

In their current work to increase pro-choice awareness, the Pro-Choice Public Education Project (PEP) has enhanced their website, http://www.protectchoice.org, and added several new resources for leadership and volunteer/internship opportunities in the pro-choice movement. PEP invites Feminist Majority Leadership Alliances and allies to nominate a prominent pro-choice activist and have them featured on the PEP site. Send in your nominations today to pep@protectchoice.org and check out the new resources on http://www.feministcampus.org/recruitment.asp.

The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) will be holding a National Legislative Mobilization Conference on September 8-10, 2002 at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Washington DC. Members and leaders from across the country will gather to become active participants in the legislative process, gain insight into the issues that affect our communities, and meet with elected officials in the House and Senate to educate them on the priorities of the NAACP. Panel discussions will focus on Criminal Justice, Healthcare and Entitlement Programs, Education, Housing, Economic Development, and Labor Issues, Election Reform, and Voting Rights. The Conference will be preceded by a Pre-Mobilization Conference entitled “Women: Finding and Using Power” on September 7-8, 2002. This portion will address critical and emerging issues facing women. The Conference will culminate with a march and rally on Capitol Hill and scheduled visits with congressional representatives. A special aspect of this conference is the great opportunity to network with college students from across the country that are discussing and mobilizing on these issues on their local campuses. The registration for this conference is FREE to all NAACP Members. NAACP College Chapter Membership is $15. If you are interested in participating in this conference, please contact Nicholas Wiggins nwiggins@gwu.edu. For more information, visit http://www.naacp.org