Women (or womyn, if you prefer), have come a long way at RPI. From the founding of the Institute, when female students had to walk down to the train station to use a bathroom, to the much-touted Class of 1967 which had one female student, women on our campus have always been secondary—if not second-class—citizens.
Today it seems that those days are far behind us. Our female president is emerging as the most dynamic and forward-thinking leader in RPI history, and female students stand at 30 percent of the student body (and climbing).
But there is still a long way to go—sexual violence and harassment are pervasive in our classrooms and in our living spaces. Many students have felt that the administration ignores evidence that sexual assault occurs at a greater frequency than is reflected in Public Safety’s annual reports. Sexist jokes are repeated in ordinary conversation. Campus folklore persists that female students on our campus are less qualified and secured admission through some mystical diversity initiative, despite a preponderance of evidence to the contrary.
As a student body, we have been oddly silent on these issues. The network of women’s organizations and services on our campus is missing or disjointed, and critical discussion of gender is rare outside of Gender, Science, and Technology classes. We certainly don’t do the hip things like performing the "Vagina Monologues," for free, on Valentine’s Day.
In honor of Women’s History Month, RPI students will host a Womyn’s Conference on March 30 and 31. Featured debates include "Gender and Sexuality in the Military" and "Womyn’s Roles in Religious Texts." Discussion groups and workshops such as "Language, Gender, and Power," "How Women Experience Technology," "Feminism and Academia," and, "Sexism and Racism in Academic and Professional Environments" will be held. Short films will explore the complex lives of women today, from the so-called girly ’zine revolution to the veiling of Muslim women. A folk concert featuring Doria Roberts, Pamela Means, and Paddy Kilrain will follow Saturday’s events, sponsored by the Rensselaer Pride Alliance.
This sounds like an incredible laundry list of events, but they all have immediate relevance to the women of RPI. Planned Parenthood will present a workshop on health risks associated with birth control. Public Safety and RenSAT—a student group working to address the problem of sexual violence on our campus—will discuss campus sexual violence. I will help lead a discussion about greek organizations and their role in both sustaining and resisting sexist attitudes and ideas. I look forward to this workshop as helping me gain critical understanding of my own greek experience!
This is a unique chance for the entire campus to learn about and frankly discuss the state of gender on our campus. Students from Russell Sage, Skidmore, and Barnard will be attending. A major theme of the conference will be finding common ground between the concerns of heterosexual and lesbian women. Registration is free for RPI students; contact womyns_fest@hotmail.com.
Two weeks later, RPI will honor Sexual Assault Awareness Week with a ribbon campaign and a series of events to educate the campus about sexual violence. This will include a workshop on stalking, a showing of The Accused, and a "Take Back the Night" march. These events are sponsored by the Health Center and by RenSAT.
We will be giving out ribbons and information in the Union around lunchtime, and I hope that all of you will take a minute to put on a ribbon and speak to Katrin Wesner—RPI’s health educator, a student, or a community activist about how you can make your community safer. Look for posters in the coming weeks giving specific details about location and time of events.
The activities of RenSAT are not limited to giving out ribbons and planning workshops, however. We are also interested in institutional programs and policies that can improve the lives of our students, faculty, and staff. Ideas under discussion include a Student Advisor Program for assault survivors and a campus-wide sexual assault survey. These discussions include not only students but the active participation of administrators from DOSO and Health Services.
I encourage you to come to a meeting—the next one is this friday at 3 pm in the Rensselaer Union—if you are interested in helping out. While we are currently very busy planning our April events, projects such as the survey will likely be the focus of next semester’s work.
Need I mention that all of these activities—from the Womyn’s Conference to RenSAT meetings to the "Take Back the Night" march—are for men too? You will bring valued perspective and support to our discussions, and I hope to see a lot of you there. If there are any questions or concerns, contact me at barrea2@rpi.edu.
Andrea Barreiro
MATH GRAD
