to the Women’s Resources Center
Welcome to spring semester 2010 at the Women’s Resources Center. The WRC will be celebrating our first birthday on February 22nd (stay tuned for birthday celebration information) and we’re delighted to be serving students in services, programming, scholarships, and events. We were very busy our first fall semester on campus and we’d like to take this time to share with you some glimpses into just what was cookin’ at the WRC.
First and foremost, the Women’s Resources Center is the powerhouse on campus for sexual assault prevention education. We hosted over 200 FYCARE (First Year Campus Acquaintance Rape Education) workshops for freshmen students, led by trained student facilitators on sexual assault and prevention.
The Women’s Resources Center welcomed a new Coordinator of Sexual Assault Education, Jennifer Scott, this past fall and her efforts with classes have been tremendous. We here at the WRC are extremely proud of the strength and energy that Jenn has brought to the program!
The WRC welcomed another new kid to the block, WRC Program Coordinator Rachel Storm. Her work meant the WRC was aflutter with programs and events, including Knit Happens (a bimonthly knitting circle), Writ n’ Rhymed Poetry Open Mic Nights, the Dish It Up Lunch Series, House Concerts, local student art exhibitions, and a documentary film series.
Our Dish It Up Lunch Series featured topics ranging from “Women in the Military”with Srgt. Geri Underwood to “Celebrating Female Sexuality” with McKinley Health Educator Kim Rice. We went from serving lunch to approximately 25 students to over 45 by the end of the semester--a tight but cozy squeeze for our humble center!
A very remarkable accomplishment is our recruiting of over 40 volunteers to help us conduct programs, plan events, and support staff in the office. Our volunteers have taken on projects ranging from organizing the growing WRC library, to the expanding upon the [WRC Clothesline Project via hosting workshops wherein t-shirts can be made documenting personal stories related to gender violence.] We are forever grateful to our amazing WRC volunteers for all their hard work. (Eager to learn more about them? Check out a full list of their names and bios on our website!)
And like with all things, we both celebrate joys and weather our sorrows, this past semester was the last full semester we’d have our secretary, Bethany Socie and our graduate intern, Megan Paceley, working with us full time. Bethany will now be the secretary for the LGBT Resources Center this upcoming February and Megan earned her masters in social work this past December and will no longer be interning with us.
Although we are sad to see them go we are so excited for them to go on and experience new things. We wish Bethany all the best in her new position and are so proud of Megan for her accomplishment, and we collectively shout to her “good luck exploring the infinite abyss!”
It has been a real pleasure working together with students, faculty, and staff this past semester and we’re looking forward to an even more fantastic semester this spring 2010. Welcome to a brand new semester. Please stop on by the Women’s Resources Center, take your coat off, and relax. We are eager to be your home away from home.
Happy New Year,
UIUC Women’s Resources Center
P.S. For more information about the WRC and what’s happening in our space, please take a gander at our:
WRC Facebook Fan Page: http://www.facebook.com/pa
WRC Blog:http://dailydivulgences.bl
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