Committee surveys need for women's center at SU

By: Jenae A. Richardson

Posted: 2/10/09

There are 49 physics professors in the College of Arts and Sciences. Out of these 49, four are women.

In her time working with female students in engineering and science, physics professor Marina Artuso has observed that women in these fields are underrepresented in the classroom.

Now, as a co-chair of the Committee on Women's Concerns, part of the Syracuse University Senate, she is working to change attitudes at SU by advocating the construction of a women's center to give women a place to go.

The committee will end a month-long student survey today in an attempt to gauge how much interest there is around campus for such a facility.

The survey asked students to rate how they felt about existing services on the campus, like the Department of Public Safety, Human Resources Service Center and the Psychological Services Center. It also asked faculty and staff to rate whether they viewed the overall campus climate as accepting or not. The survey then asked them to rate how importantly they viewed topics such as health and sexuality, mentoring, spirituality, salary and pay equity, and promotion and tenure.

The committee also intends to use the survey results to learn how the university community feels about the overall atmosphere on campus, said Martha Hanson, the other committee co-chair.

Hanson isn't sure what the center's functions would be, though she envisions the center as a "safe place to go to, emotionally and physically."

The committee researched 70 established centers across the United States in fall 2007. The committee contacted 14 of these 70 centers and asked the centers' directors questions such as who used the center, what effect it had on campus and what functions it served. Two of the centers that the committee contacted were Montana State University Women's Center and Emory University Center for Women.

Montana State University's women's center was founded in 1979 after female employees filed a lawsuit about pay inequities. Part of the settlement stipulated that the university establish a center to address women's concerns, said center Director Betsy Danforth. Today, the center sponsors special projects such as weekly seminars, a grant writing workshop each spring and a lecture series.

The center also holds seminars on men's issues. Though people perceive women at the center as "crazy feminists," Danforth said, the center won't turn men away if they need to use its resources.

"We'll help them if they come through our doors," she said.

Dona Yarbrough, the Emory University center director, challenges people to understand the definition of feminism since that may help clarify what the center's about, she said.

"It's the value at a university that men and women are treated equally, and that's feminism," she said.

The center coordinates several projects for women including Women's History Month, networking events for women, and a health and wellness series.

"If you look at the way women are progressing in the world, you would see the need for a women's center," she said. "Women go into areas that offer low-paying careers and a woman's center can help them with such issues," she said.

At SU, Hanson said that she wants the committee and the SU community to collaborate so the campus can use the center actively. But some SU students aren't sure of the center's purpose.

Cynthia Salazar, a freshman biochemistry major, said she doesn't know what a women's center would look like, but would be interested in having one on campus.

She said she loves biology and chemistry but sometimes finds it difficult to be a female science student. Last semester, Salazar took biology and said she felt alienated at times, especially working in a lab group as the only woman among two men. Salazar said she found that her male peers often disregarded her answers even if they were correct.

"They saw themselves as being smarter than I was," she said.

She said she envisions an ideal women's center as a place that offers more than counseling for women, but also information about opportunities such as internships.

Matt Robin, a freshman in the Setnor School of Music, said he doesn't see a need for a women's center at SU since there aren't any outright issues between men and women. On the other hand, Robin said he can see a women's center as a helpful resource for women.

"I think that there would be women on campus who would benefit from it," Robin said.

The committee hopes to have the results of the student survey by the end of the spring 2009 semester. Hanson said she's excited to see the responses.

"These surveys help us paint the picture of what this ideal on campus center could be," she said. "But what is the 'it'?" she asked, referring to the women's center that some still find abstract and intangible.

"Such a short word carries so much with it," she said.

jarich04@syr.edu