Meet the new campus organizers!

The Feminist Majority Foundation is excited to welcome two new campus organizers to our Campus Team. Myra Duran and Meghan Shalvoy are both former student leaders of the Bruin Feminist for Equality and the Stony Brook Feminist Majority Leadership Alliance, respectively, and will undoubtedly prove to be amazing resources for the activists with whom they will be working!

Some more information on these two talented women:

Myra Duran (left) graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles with a B.A. in Women's Studies with a concentration in women of color feminism and a minor in labor and workplace studies. As a student activist, she interned for Gabriela Network, U.S.A., the Dolores Huerta Foundation, the California Construction Academy, and the Feminist Majority Foundation. She spearheaded FMF's Campaign to Expose Fake Clinics at UCLA with Bruin Feminists for Equality. Myra also served on the Young Women’s Leadership Council for the Pro-choice Public Education Project. Myra says she is really excited to be a part of the CHOICES Campus Team, especially looks forward to fostering the love she has for activism, young students, the power of voice, and women's rights. Myra will be working out of our West Coast office in Los Angeles.

Meghan Shalvoy (right) is a recent graduate of Stony Brook University and the former President of the Feminist Majority Leadership Alliance at Stony Brook. Her decision to major in women’s and gender studies at SBU was largely fueled by her desire to advocate for women’s reproductive rights, and through the WGS program she interned for Planned Parenthood Hudson Peconic and New York State Senator Brian X. Foley. Meghan is also the former co-chair of the National Organization for Women-New York State (NOW-NYS) Young Feminist Task Force, and has made multiple trips to Haiti this past year to volunteer at a free medical clinic run by Raising Haiti. Meghan will be working out of our East Coast office in Washington.

Welcome Myra and Meghan!

Campus Organizing Toolkit: Rural Campuses

As part two of my college campus organizing series, I will be focusing on the particular challenges and triumphs that one may face on a rural college campus.
As a student at the University of California, Davis, I know a thing or two about the rural college town life. Drive 5 minutes in any direction from our campus and you are likely to wind up in a field. There are about as many cows as first year. It’s easy to feel like no body is listening when you’re trying to protest inequalities on campus. But never fear! Use these tips as an outline for your feminist activism, and let me know if you have any more!

1. Unite Women Across Campus- In a rural town, there may not be many female icons nearby to draw upon for inspiration. It’s important to unite the women on campus because they are your only resources!
Make sure you address the concerns of women from diverse social and educational backgrounds. In a small rural community, diversity may seem hard to come by. Make sure to celebrate the voices that are not often heard and the faces that you do not normally see on campus.
Take the time to appreciate women who are role models in the community; this will inspire others to achieve locally as well.

2. Think Local- In the small college town environment, students have a say in what happens off campus as well as on. If there are city policies that your group opposes, approach city officials or attend a city council meeting and voice your concerns. Work with community members to achieve your larger goals, and make sure you get feminist students registered to vote in your area!
Also, work with the local business association to address problems with stores in town and to find great co-sponsors for events. Find a listing of female owned businesses and celebrate them, or campaign for local stores to have gender-neutral restrooms!

3. Provide Entertainment- In towns where there’s not much happening, people want to attend events that are fun! Concerts, movie screenings, and dance parties are great ideas for fundraising or awareness building, and are sure to be packed.
Collaborating on an event with another student group will increase your resources and publicity. Work with other progressive groups, or break barriers in ways no one would have ever expected. If it feels like you are the only progressive group on campus, hold a debate!

4. Connect with (Secret) Feminist Campus- Again, with a lack of feminist inspiration to draw from in the community, it’s important to take advantage of whatever resources are available to you. Try to reach beyond the Women’s Studies Department (if you have one), and look for women professors in the math and sciences to align with as well.

5. Create a Sense of Community- It is really important to keep your student activist community tight. Sometimes in a rural environment it can begin to feel like you’re the only person who thinks and feels the way you do about political issues. Make sure that you care for one another. When your group is small, it’s important that you all like working with each other so that you can work twice as hard to cover the most ground.

Campus Organizing Series: Large Public Universities

So the DC Campus Interns have been assigned the project of blogging campus organizing tips for different types of campuses, in order to provide our fellow college feminists with some tools for making change on their campuses. My first topic is one with which I have a lot of experience: Large Public Universities.

I am a rising senior at the University of California, Davis, a public land grant university with nearly 30,000 students and I have a lot of experience with activism on my campus. I am an ASUCD Senator and my platform was driven by the needs of the feminist and social justice activist communities. So far I have been able to protest blood drives on our campus (for their discrimination against men who have sex with men), gain funding for ethnic and lavender graduation ceremonies and culture weeks, begin planning a womyn’s leadership conference, draft a pregnant undergrad resource guide, and advocate for sexual harassment training of all ASUCD employees (and that's just in one quarter!).

Organizing the crowds at a public university can be tough, but it’s definitely doable! Here are my top five tips to keep in mind, with some personal anecdotes to go along:

1.Know Your Resources- Large public universities seem to have an administrative department for everything. Be sure you know where you’ll need to go to reserve a room on campus, how to get permission to do fundraising, and how to request a sound permit (it’s also best to know this information before you need it!).
You may find that your campus offers grants and services for student clubs. Make sure you register your group to receive these benefits!
On the UC Davis campus there are about 100 places you can go to request money (the student government, campus resource centers, academic departments, the office of the chancellor, etc.), and it’s important to hit up every relevant one during a budget crisis. This will also give you great practice in the world of grant writing!
Troll your school’s website for deadlines and requirements for each funding source.

2.Collaborate!- On such a large campus there are bound to be multiple clubs that work on the same issues: why not collaborate! This is a great way to acquire more resources and people-power to pull off those BIG events you have planned.
If there is not a directory of clubs on your campus, keep your eye out for fliers from other groups and visit their meetings. Go out to coffee with their President and get to know what they’re about and if your goals align in any way (and if they don’t align, why not hold a public debate?). This is a great way to expand attendance at your events from the regular crew.
Also, if you’re lobbying the administration, having a coalition of student groups behind your cause will get their attention!
I have found that this is a great way to get new ideas for club activities and also to make great friends. Even if you never work with a group on an event, establishing a personal relationship with them will make them more likely to attend your future events.
If your group is lacking diversity, be sure to make the effort to work with those you’re not already in constant contact with. It’s important to make your group feel welcoming to all, but you’ll never really know why it’s not until you ask!

3.Media Control- The media loves large public universities, and you can take advantage of this fact! If you are holding an event with a lot of drama or action (like a protest), the media may want to cover it!
Write a press release and send it to local newspapers and news stations. Who knows, you just might make the evening news! Also, be sure to send press releases to your campus newspaper(s); if they write an article about it, you can reach a lot of students on your campus!
With the media comes a word of caution though: you must make an effort to control the way you are portrayed. Media is always looking for drama. Some interviewers may try to trigger you or put words in your mouth with leading questions. Be just a little wary and make mental notes about which sources have been sly in the past.
If you are doing an interview for print, it is within your rights to request an advance copy of the quotes they will use from you (as they wrote them down, because sometimes that can be different than the way you thought you said them) or of the story. And never be afraid to say, “No comment.”

4.Utilizing Social Media- On large campuses, it’s usually easiest to advertise your events through social media (rather than chalking or flyering in the hundreds of classrooms for hours!).
Create a facebook group, a twitter account, a flickr, a myspace, and whatever new thing that everyone on your campus is using. Invite all your friends and ask them to invite all their friends. When the first years arrive in fall, they will be able to find your group on your university’s network and learn about how to get involved before your first meeting!
I’ve found that on facebook, it’s important to make events for each individual event as well as a group for your club. This way folks who aren’t comfortable having your group on their profile 24/7 can still get invited, plus casual attendees.
And there is something to be said about chalking on campus: I have sat in many a boring class and decided to attend a movie or a panel that evening just because it was in my line of sight for so long. On some campuses it’s a no-no, and sometimes you have to wake up at 5 am to do it, but it really is worth it to make that effort!

5.Infiltrate Your Student Government- At large public universities, some student governments have a lot of power (and money!). It is important that women and feminists are getting a say!
Contact a member of the student government and voice your concerns, as well as possible projects the student government could take on.
Also, see if there is a committee that deals with gender, race, and/or sexuality. If not, demand that it be created!

If all else fails (or if you’re successful), run for office (your collaboration with other student clubs will help create a large voting base).

This is an issue that I am extremely passionate about. Historically, women have been only a sixth of UC Davis' senate table, even though we’re more than half of the student population! In the national congress, women are only 17%!

If you are able to deal with the mental and social pressures of politics, I feel like it’s your duty to get involved. Make sure the women on your campus are being served, make sure the underrepresented are being heard!

Photo Cred: UC Davis Magazine

Tune in tomorrow to hear Jacqueline and Allie on Feminist Magazine!!

If you are in the greater Los Angeles area, be sure to tune in to KPFK 90.7 fm on Wednesday 11/18, 7pm. The West Coast organizers, Allie and Jacqueline, along with some feminist group leaders will be on "Feminist Magazine."

We will be talking about the highlights of Western Regional Feminist Campus Leadership Conference that took place November 6th and 7th at Santa Monica College. Marissa Anderson, co-president of the Pasadena City College Feminist club will be talking about her experience at the conference, along with personal stories about running her group at Pasadena City College.Lindsay Frank, FMF intern, will be talking about her experience with the FMF internship as well as her intentions to start a feminist group at UC Santa Cruz.

Please tune in to 90.7fm (98.7 in Santa Barbara) or steaming live at kpfk.org.

If you happen to miss it, you can download the podcast:
1. go to kpfk.org & click on Audio Archives on info bar
2. In Audio Archives go to column called Shows, click on shows & Scroll down to Feminist Magazine
3. The air dates appear next to each show, your interview will appear dated Nov 18
4. Click on download or podcast. You can download an MP3 of the whole program or the podcast version.
The show is available for 90 days from its air date. After that you can call the KPFK Archives and order a copy of the show


photo courtesy of http://www.flickr.com/photos/kvitsh

Starting an FMLA

Starting a feminist group on your campus can be easier than you think! Check out Alexis Gardner's account of starting a new group at her school, Cal State Los Angeles:

"So we just started up the Feminist Majority Leadership Alliance up again at Cal State LA! We had an awesome turn out for it being only the first meeting, about 10 new faces on top of our established 6 officers! Everyone seems really excited and eager to get involved! Who knew starting a feminist club on campus could be so easy?!

We have recruitment tabling scheduled, planning an equality bake sale, looking into doing community service at a women's and children's shelter, and we are collaborating with the Gender & Sexuality Resource Center on campus to do various events such as the clothesline project and the Womyn of Color Conference!

This experience to learn and grow with fellow feminists is going to be awesome! I couldn't think of anything better than bonding and making life long connections with fellow sisters for the cause! Any suggestions for future meeting topics and activities?"

You too can be a leader of a group on your campus. Let the campus organizers be a resource to you. We can even make a visit to your campus to help you launch a group. Contact us at campusteam@feminist.org!

Campus Organizers meet Gloria Steinem

So the east coast organizers went downtown for the Women, Money, and Power Summit Luncheon, sponsored by our sister organization, the Feminist Majority. The luncheon was great, and it was great to hear Gloria Steinem speak. She had a lot to say about gun ownership and violence in society, and we really enjoyed her analysis - thanks so much to FM and to Gloria for a great luncheon!

Additionally, we were super stoked to get a photo with her following her speech! So here it is, your 5 east coast campus organizers with the one and only Gloria Steinem!


Special kudos to Norma Gattsek, Government Relations Director, for snagging us the opportunity and taking the photo. Thanks Norma!