(William and) Mary's Enthusiastic Feminists

Was Queen Mary II a feminist? (Warning: I was never much of a history buff and came from the business school -- not the history department). I only ask because I'm curious how a school with the name of a Queen could produce so many amazing feminists and not be a feminist herself?!

Patrice and I met with the fabulous members of FMLA at College of William and Mary for a two-day visit to promote Get Out HER Vote on campus. FMLA hosted a voter registration drive to make sure every last student was registered and informed about the upcoming election. The response was great and, like so many students we've met with so far, most were already registered but eager to learn more about FMLA, pick up a copy of Ms. magazine or grab an absentee ballott application if they were planning to remain registered out of state.

Check out what some of the FMLA members had to say about the voter reg drive:


Adding to the list of feminists on campus, is Sarah Rojas, a student blogger and member of William and Mary's Student Assembly. It was clear after speaking with Sarah for just five minutes that the Student Assembly had mastered voter registration on campus. After creating a simplified online voter registration form that converted into a PDF (that was then quickly printed out on their portable printers), the Student Assembly collaborated with multicultural groups and Greek life by hosting events (such as "Rush the Vote") and nightly tabling until midnight at the library. The result: so far they have registered 2,000 students!

By removing the hassle of wondering what your dormitory address is or risking the chance of letting the registration form getting lost in your book bag, their form offered a drop down menu of campus residences that automatically filled in the physical address and even delivered the form to the registrar for you! How easy is that! And to top it off they even provided an option for students to check if they were interested in becoming a poll worker!

Not to let all that hard work go to waste, the are making sure they mobilize students to the polls and plan to use cell phone numbers and e-mail addresses captured through the online form to remind students to go to the polls. Perfect grassroots organizing 101!

FMLA is planning to continue the discussion about women's informed voting through a panel discussion with ESSENCE: Women of Color and others later this fall. It's so important that we don't stop with simply getting students registered. We must make sure that they are informed about the issues and getting to the polls on Election Day.

And it doesn't stop there! We must continue this discussion and channel the energy that we have seen at colleges like William and Mary nationwide into action even after November 4. And what better way to do that then attend the Women of Color conference?! FMLA, ESSENCE, Sarah and so many others will join us on November 14 and 15 at Bennett College for Women in Greensboro, NC to continue to organize and take action on the many issues addressed in this election. Whoever wins, whoever loses, it is still up to us to develop an action plan and make sure our voices are being heard on the local, state and national level. What are you waiting for? Register now!

So despite what the history books may say, Queen Mary II had to be a feminist, right? Just look at these amazing activists and leaders today! Besides, most history books were written by men anyways. ;)