Feminist Events Calendar

Over the Summer Plan For a Fabulous Feminist Fall!

May 3rd: National Teen Pregnancy Prevention Day

14-20: National Women's Health Week

15- June 2nd: 35th Meeting of UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women

June 27th: National HIV Testing Day

August 7-25: 36th Meeting of UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women

26th: Women's Equality Day

September Gynecologic Cancer Awareness Month

28th: Anniversary of FDA Approval of Mifepristone (RU-486)

October Breast Cancer Awareness Month

Domestic Violence Awareness Month

11th: National Coming Out Day

15th: Love Your Body Day

19th: National Young Women's Day of Action

November 6-10: EC Week of Action

7th: Election Day

25th: International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women

26- December 10th: 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence

December 1st: World AIDS Day

10th: International Human Rights Day

Contact Us!

Call us toll free at either the East coast office (1-866-444-FMLA) or the West coast office (1-866-471-FMLA). You can also email us at campusteam@feminist.org. We are always happy to hear from you and answer any questions or concerns!

What do you think?

This is your E-zine, and we are always updating and changing to fit your needs, so please let us know what you think of our new format! Email campusteam@feminist.org with any suggestions, ideas, or comments.

FMF Outstanding Campus Awards
For this end-of-semester issue of the Feminist Campus Ezine we have chosen a few representatives to recognize for their activism, but they are only a sampling of the outstanding feminist activism that all 176 FMLAs and affiliates around the country have done this academic year. We in the FMF Campus Team would like to thank you all for a wonderful year!

Winners of this year's Outstanding Campus Awards are:

• UCLA FMLA, Los Angeles, CA
• Amber Forrester, FMLA President, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio
• P.O.W.E.R (Planet of Women for Equality and Respect), SUNY- Courtland Affiliate, Courtland, NY
• Hunter Women's Rights Coalition, Hunter College, New York, NY
• Kathryn Turner, OSAPE President, Stetson University Affiliate, DeLand, FL
• Feminist Action Network, Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs, NY
• Women's Center, Pitzer College, Claremont, CA
• FMLA, Occidental College, Los Angeles, CA
• FMLA, University of Nevada Reno, Reno, NV

Learn more about each winner below in the 'Campus News' section!

In addition, this work would not be complete without the help of some amazing campus faculty and staff! We would also like to take this time to recognize:

• Dr. Kimi King, FMLA Faculty Advisor, University of North Texas
• Yvonne Miller Vinson, Spelman College Program Coordinator for the Women's Research and Resource Center
• Dr. Mary Alice Morgan, Mercer University, Macon, Georgia
• Dr. Susan Castagnetto, Director of Intercollegiate Women's Studies of the Claremont Colleges
• Dr. Ellen Abell, Prescott College, Prescott, AZ

These campus faculty and staff assisted both the FMF and their respective FMLA's and Affiliates by helping make our Regional Global Conferences successful as well as being a support and resource for the individual groups. Without you all the FMF Campus Program would not be the success it is!

Walk for Women's Lives 2006 ~ Philadelphia, Iowa City, and Washington, DC!
In the past two weeks three Walk for Women's Lives took place. The national walk in Washington, DC raised over $18,000 while the campus walks at Iowa State raised over $1000 and at Widener University over $700! The proceeds from these walks and future walks will sponsor clinical trials for treatments for ovarian and uterine cancers. Want to sponsor a walk in the fall? Check out www.iwalkforwomenslives.org for more information or contact your campus organizer at campusteam@feminist.org!

Or check out these other fundraising ideas: Los Angeles Valley College is planning to hold a Trash-A-Thon. Calling it "Clean for the Cure", participants are taking a Saturday to pick up litter at local parks, and are asking for pledges per bag of trash they collect. UCLA FMLA is holding a book drive for mifepristone cancer research - they are asking for donations of used school books at the end of the quarter and then selling them back to the bookstore to raise money. To advertise their book drive, they are taking out an ad in the campus paper, setting up drop boxes in dorms and other locations around campus, and walking the sell-back lines at the bookstore to solicit donations.  

Graduating Feminists!
Congratulations to those of you who are graduating this May! Don't forget update your information on FeministCampus.org. Just sign in at www.feministcampus.org and click on 'Update your Profile'. Over the summer keep a look out for our new Alumnae Section in which members can receive special discounts on FMF products.  Also, before you graduate signup for Ms. Magazine and receive a special discount ~ $12.50 for a year of Ms!

End of Semester Interviews
It's that time of year again for the End of Semester Interview with your Campus Organizer! Please call or email your campus organizer today and set up a time and day to complete the interview. If you have an East Coast Campus Organizer this is the last end of semester with your current CO. Your new Organizer will be contacting your exec board this summer! Also, please email your Campus Organizer with the contact information of your fall 2006 exec board after your spring elections. Don't know who your organizer is? Click here or email campusteam@feminist.org.

FMLA, UCLA ~ FMLA exec board members founded the UCLA Darfur Action Committee, which won a major victory this semester. After massive campaigning on campus and in the media, they convinced the UC Board of Regents to be the first major public university system to vote to divest from companies with financial holdings in Sudan. You can see their work honored by MTVu here: http://www.mtvu.com/on_mtvu/graduation/

Amber Forrester, FMLA President, Case Western Reserve University ~ Amber Forrester has done an amazing job as president of the Case Western Reserve University Feminist Majority Leadership Alliance this year. She also served as an FMF intern and primary student organizer of the Midwest Global Women's and Human Rights Conference, held at Case Western this past November. Amber Forrester is graduating in May with a degree in American Studies and History, with an Anthropology minor. Congratulations, Amber, and good luck!

Planet Of Women for Equality and Respect (P.O.W.E.R), SUNY- Courtland ~ FMF's Affiliate Cortland P.O.W.E.R (Planet of Women for Equality and Respect) held a student run conference titled "POWER of Women" this semester. The conference had over 10 panels ranging in issues facing women today. The conference was very successful and will be an annual event!

Hunter Women's Rights Coalition, Hunter College ~ FMF's Affiliate Hunter Women's Rights Coalition won two long fought battles this semester. The first win was with the installation of gender neutral bathrooms on campus. Soon after, they won a more than 2 year battle to get a doctor on campus...next battle? To get EC on campus! Good luck and great work!

Kathryn Turner, OSAPE President, Stetson University ~ This semester as President and founder of OSAPE Kathryn coordinated a campus Walk for Women's Lives that raised over $500.00. In addition she authored the Improved Student Health Services Bill which passed in SGA and mandates that EC, birth control, annual exams, and STI Testing be available to all students. She has also been recognized by the Women and Gender Studies committee and honored with the June Brooks Award for leadership and activism. In addition to being honored by the Omicron Delta Kappa Leadership fraternity. Check out OSAPE's website for more information on this inspirational group: http://www.stetson.edu/org/osape/

Feminist Action Network (FAM), Skidmore College ~ FAN at Skidmore had an extraordinary spring semester with two major highlights! The group hosted a variety of V-Day activities that engaged the student body concerning sexual assault on campus as well as greater issues of violence against women. This was followed by a busy Women's History Month that included hosting speaker Barbara Smith as well as representatives from CODEPINK and holding a “This is What A Feminist Looks Like” day exploring the many faces of feminism.

Women's Center, Pitzer College ~ The Women's Center at Pitzer College had dedicated their semester to increasing awareness about Emergency Contraception on their campus. After doing heave research and going to pharmacies in their community they have created a brochure detailing information about EC: how it works, who should use it and where to get it. They will be distributing the brochure to all students on their campus both at the end of this semester and at the beginning of next year.

FMLA, Occidental College ~ Amanda Gonzales and the group at Occidental have been working tirelessly to save there residential Women's Center, soon scheduled for demolition, by involving alumni, staging sit-ins, and never backing down. In addition to this they have been trying for two years now to have Women's Studies become an official department and planning a full plate of programming including activities almost every day of Women's History Month.

FMLA, University of Nevada Reno ~ Erin Schweber and the FMLA at UNRA have also been working hard to have their Women's Resource Center reinstated while there is an interim president at UNR. They are racing against time as the interim president is soon to be replaced with a President who is less likely to grant the funding for the center.

Supreme Court Denies Anti-Abortion Extremists' Appeal
May 2, 2006 -- The Supreme Court refused without comment to hear an appeal by anti-abortion extremists on Monday in the "Nuremberg Files" case. The case, American Coalition of Life Activists (ACLA) v. Planned Parenthood , originated as a suit filed in 1999 by Planned Parenthood of Oregon and four Oregon doctors listed on WANTED-style posters on the Nuremberg Files website against 13 anti-abortion extremists and the anti-abortion groups American Coalition of Life Activists and Advocates for Life Ministries. The website included personal information about the doctors, and the names of doctors who were murdered had lines through them crossing them off. “[This case] is about protecting doctors' lives,” said Maria Vullo, attorney for Planned Parenthood, according to the Associated Press. More

Thousands Rally Across the US to Stop Genocide
May 1, 2006 -- Thousands gathered in 12 different locations yesterday to support Sudan's Darfur region and rally against the genocide-in-progress. The largest of these rallies was on the National Mall in Washington, DC. “Never again,” the speakers yelled to masses in front of the nation's capitol. “Never again,” shouted back the diverse, impassioned crowd. The rally lasted a little over four hours and took place in front of the US Capitol. Over 45 political leaders, activists, writers, and celebrities took the stage to speak about the genocide in Darfur, which has left 180,000 dead and about 2 million displaced. More

Penn State's Discriminatory Coach Reprimanded
April 27, 2006 -- Pennsylvania State University has reprimanded women's basketball coach Rene Portland for her discrimination against former player Jennifer Harris. Harris brought a federal lawsuit against Portland last December for repeatedly questioning Harris about her sexual orientation, encouraging the other players to ostracize her, and finally dismissing her at the end of the 2004-2005 season. In a move that gay rights advocacy groups say doesn't go far enough, Penn State fined Portland $10,000, mandated that she participate in a “diversity development course,” and promised to terminate her upon further violation of the University's anti-discrimination policy, according to USA Today .
More

More Feminist News

French Women Urge End to Official Use of 'Mademoiselle'
April 24, 2006 -- French feminists have petitioned the government to remove the title 'mademoiselle' from official documents, making 'madame' the appropriate title for all women. The largest feminist organization in France, Les Chiennes de Guarde (The Guard Dogs), supports the appeal, on the grounds that using both titles is discriminatory, as it unfairly requires women to disclose their marital status and sexual availability. The petition will require 7,000 signatures to move forward – so far, 2,300 have been collected online. More

Anti-HIV Gel for Women May Be Available by 2010
April 24, 2006 -- Scientists attending the Microbicides 2006 Conference have announced that a gel that would prevent the transmission of HIV could be ready for use by 2010. The availability of microbicides could be crucial in reducing the number of HIV infections by lessening women's dependence upon their male partner's willingness to use a condom, thereby giving them more control over their exposure to the virus. More

More Global Feminist News

Promote Literacy Across the Globe! Have an End of Semester Book Drive!
The FMF and the National Women's Studies Association have teamed up to help your FMLA/affiliate collect used class books, donate them to international book organizations, and make a difference on a global scale!

To make the process as simple as possible, we are collaborating with Better World Books and Books For Africa, who collects books on behalf of libraries, schools, and hundreds of non-governmental organizations, who then distribute the materials among communities in need. Better World Books (BWB) began as a book-drive run by three friends on a university campus - now, it's a nation-wide effort with thousands of people involved, all working to improve people's quality of life through literacy. One of their biggest partnerships is with Books for Africa, whose mission is to help end the book famine in Africa; since 1988, the organization has shipped over 10 million books to 26 countries in Africa.

At the BWB collection center, the books are sorted; some are donated to Books for Africa directly, and others are offered for sale online to generate funds for the shipment of containers of books to Africa. BWB has raised $500,000 for BFA through online book sale, and every book sold online sends 5 to Africa.

For more information on the book drive, click here! For more suggestions on campaigns that target anti-sweatshop, pro-global reproductive health, and pro-environment organizing, check out the FMF 2005-2006 Global Actions Kit!

National Student Lobby Day to Defeat the Federal Marriage Ammendment (FMA)! Stop the So-Called “Marriage Protection Act" by speaking out and raising your voice to your Senators.

Why Should Senators Oppose the FMA?

• The government should not enshrine the religious view of any one faith in laws
• Senators should not write discrimination into the Constitution
• The Constitution should extend, not restrict rights

Why Should YOU Get Involved?

• Potential consequences will affect You during your lifetime
• Students hold critical power to educate others on campus
• Youth voices must be heard in the policy process

Date: Tuesday May 23, 2006
Location: Washington, DC
Time: 8am-5pm Visit www.au.org/lobby to register

First annual GenderYOUTH Leadership Summit
Come see what all of the excitement is all about! This May the GenderYOUTH Program of the Gender Public Advocacy Coalition is hosting the first annual GenderYOUTH Leadership Summit~ Death by Gender: Mobilizing Against Violence. Events include National Gender Lobby Day, the Great Big International Drag King Show, and a sneak peek screening of the film Straight Laced.

When: May 18-20, 2006
Where: Washington, DC
Who: College youth from across the country!
Register today!

Find a feminist internship or post-graduate job!

Job Search Tips: Become Part of the Graduation Pledge Alliance (GPA)

Founded at Humboldt State University in California (USA), Manchester College now coordinates the Graduation Pledge Alliance (GPA). The pledge has been put into practice at over one hundred schools around the country. They range in size from Whitman to Harvard to the University of Wisconsin. And now the pledge is in several countries overseas.

The pledge reads: "I _____________ pledge to explore and take into account the social and environmental consequences of any job I consider and will try to improve these aspects of any organizations for which I work." More