Current Initiatives
While the Women’s Center is always looking for new and meaningful ways to engage and support students, faculty and staff, we have a few key areas we are focusing on at this time.
If you are interested in engaging in the discussion or would like to collaborate with the Center regarding these areas, please let us know at wc@kent.edu.
Current Initiatives:
Feminist Friday - Join us one Friday a month as we dive into feminisms - acknowledging the multiple ways in which people experience, live and understand feminism. The goal is not to only create meaningful dialogue, but to create a space to develop a call to action and action steps. Feel free to bring a lunch and a friend!!
The Share Project - The Share Project is the Women's Center effort to continue to fuel the pantry and build a sense of community. The Women's Center Pantry will provide 1-3 days of food staples such as pasta, sauces, canned fruits and vegetables, rice, tuna, cereal, etc., available free of charge to students, faculty and staff in need.
The Women’s Center Mentorship Program - The Women’s Center Mentorship program has a mission to equip female students with the tools they need to pursue their passions, excel in their careers and reach their academic goals. This will be accomplished by partnering our female and female-identifying students with faculty and staff who can use their expertise to educate and empower them. We will be taking Applications for Mentors and Mentees April 2017.
The Student Advisory Committee- The Student Advisory Committee (SAC) is a student-led committee with the purpose of engaging students around women's issues, including equity of access and opportunity. The SAC promotes self-reflection, lifelong learning and modeling of best practices around recognizing and celebrating difference and diversity while exploring common themes of experience and expression. The members of this committee provide a unique and valued perspective while supporting and moving forward the mission and vision of the Women's Center.
The Sage Project - The Sage Project is a way to recognize female and female identifying students who have demonstrated innovation, creativity, risk-taking and leadership skills in their academic and personal lives. We are looking for students who have overcome adversity to shape their life and Kent State University experience. This initiative exists not only to highlight dedicated female students, but also to inspire others to take advantage of all that Kent State University has to offer.
Empowerment Workshop Series- The Women’s Center has a goal to cultivate the inner leader inside of our students by offering confidence building and skill enhancement workshops which will help students overcome some of the emotional and societal barriers that prohibit them from leading successfully. The Women's Center provides workshops that can be delivered to residence halls, student organizations, campus departments and members of the community.
Workshop Series offered to classes and student groups are:
- The Sage Project Workshop: Overcoming Adversity 101
- Passion Discovery and Goal-Setting
- Self Esteem and Body Image
- Leadership 101: Gaining the tools to be an effective Student Leader
Current focus areas and opportunities:
- Identifying and addressing the needs and concerns of Underserved and Underrepresented female and female-identifying individuals.
- Engaging male and male-identifying individuals in the conversation of reproductive justice and narrow gender stereotypes (our culture perpetuates stereotypes and stigmas that affect male or male-identified individuals).
- Finding ways to support one another with the challenge of balancing work/school/family (including finding ways to support the students working through the LIFE Program).
- Recognizing our phenomenal female and female-identifying students, faculty and staff through The Sage Project and Mothers, Mentors & Muses.
- Educating ourselves about reproductive justice through KSURGE and finding ways to make an impact by moving from the personal to the political.
- Raising our awareness around food insecurity on our campus and college campuses in general and finding ways to work together within our campus and the greater Kent community to find the support and resources to effectively and efficiently care for those in need in our community.
