A reflection by student staff member, Marie, on her personal journey to becoming a feminist and beginning the process of raising her own daughters as feminists.

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Three years ago, my life changed drastically.  Three years ago this week, I became a mother. Besides the birth of my second daughter (almost 15 months later), this was my single most amazing accomplishment of my entire life.  Around the same time, almost exactly three years ago, I made the decision to take charge of my life. I decided to go back to school to finish my undergraduate degree. I was determined to be someone, to make something out of my life and returning to school was how I wanted to do that.  I was set on becoming the kind of mother that my children could look up to, the kind of person that they would want to emulate.

When I decided to return to school, I had a plan.  Not only did I have a plan, but I had a partner, and someone who was willing to share the financial responsibility of being a single income family for a period of time.  I was nervous, but I was ready. However, as soon as my plan started to come into fruition, everything started falling apart. I found myself suddenly: jobless, partner-less, a newly pregnant single mother taking 19 credit hours, and moving back into my parents’ home.  This was not the way that I had envisioned my return to college to be.

I tell you this, not for pity, but to show you how a little bit of hard work, “true grit,” and determination go a long way.  I came onto this UMBC campus eager to learn, and even more eager to graduate.  What I found was, that in between the learning and the pursuit of graduation, I found a lot of “greatness” in between.  (add image) I remember clear as day, where I was, (Dr. O’s Human Behavior class), and who I was talking to (Erin), when I first found out about the magical place on campus that would alter my college experience- The Women’s Center.  I was told about a program that I had never heard of, called the Returning Women Students Scholars and Affiliates Program.  Erin was currently a member of the program, and she persuaded me to look into the scholarship that is offered to “non-traditional students over the age of 25” and to check out the Women’s Center.  I didn’t think much of this conversation at the time, but looking back now, I am eternally grateful to Erin for this nudge in the right direction.  Not only did this amazing program help me out financially, it helped to secure a place on campus where I finally felt like I belonged.

Finding the Women’s Center on campus was somewhat comparable (to me) as finding a hidden treasure chest.  Because that’s kind of what it is really like. (When you go visit the Center yourself, you’ll know what I am talking about)  Are you interested in Critical Social Justice?!?  Well, there’s an entire week devoted to it.  Discussion-based programs? Yup, they’ve got those too.  Then there is Take Back the Night, which always serves to unite the campus of UMBC together to support the survivors of sexual violence and to protest sexual misconduct of any shape or form.  This semester, there are even Pop Culture Pop Up’s to address current issues that are prevalent “today.”

The idea of having an available Women’s Center here on campus got me thinking about the importance of Women’s Centers on college campuses and why they really matter.  I spent a little bit of time reading up on the start of campus-based women’s centers in general (the first campus-based center was founded at the University of Minnesota in 1960) and the undeniable need for a place to support and empower women in higher education.  I read about how in the late 1960’s and early 1970’s, women began to re-enter into the field of academe. However, at this time, there were no departments or offices that were solely dedicated to women students, and many needs of this population were being unmet. The beginning women centers that were established to promote and support the re-entry of women back into higher education, while at the same time allowed for women to find “like minded others and build a radical, forward-looking community that worked for women’s equity (Devi, 2015).

Additionally, women’s centers were spaces that were open and available to all students, not just a fraction of the campus.  This allowed and encouraged participation in these spaces to encompass a broader range of people that collectively share the same ideals, beliefs, and values.  The founding centers focused primarily on raising and examining new questions about women’s lives, roles and expectations; helped to grow and develop feminist consciousness, aimed at combating isolation, and developed a sense of community.

What I found to be a common theme within women’s centers that I was able to research, was the shared common denominator of alternative resources and programming that are readily available and are not necessarily found anywhere else on campus.  Information on such topics such as: pamphlets and newsletters about rape crisis intervention; self-defense; coming-out information; lesbian support groups; women of color coalitions; contraceptive options for women; healthcare; feminist and lesbian literature; women’s music; alternative scholarship programming; feminist mythology; and other progressive and unconventional ideas were on display or easily accessible in each center.  These spaces also promote expect respectful interactions and conversations between all those who choose to participate in either discussions, or in the spaces in general.

Since the creation of the first women’s center in the 1960s, the evolution of these centers has continued to evolve around the issues  of women and gender and to address discrimination and dismantle sexist, racist, homophobic, and transphobic organizational structures.  Centers have been able to accomplish these issues by the continuing evolution of programming that includes tackling large scale issues, such as Title IX, salary equity, reproductive rights, violence against women, and issues of equity, diversity and intersectionality within the campus community as well as looking at society as a whole.

At the Women’s Center at UMBC, there is always something going on.  More importantly, there is always someone in the Women’s Center.  This small, but cozy, space houses some of the most intellectual conversations, stimulating interactions, learning experiences, and belly laughs that cannot be compared to. The space itself welcomes and promotes all aspects of campus life and “real life” that a women’s center was designed to encompass.  The staff is beyond friendly and approachable (I may be a bit biased), and the atmosphere is beyond welcoming. I highly recommend stopping by to say hi, to grab some coffee, or to meet a new friend. Why not, take a chance! That’s what I did, and I walked away with friendships, something that connected me to campus that I had never felt before, and experiences that I will carry with me for the rest of my life.

When I look back at my time spent at UMBC, I am certainly going to remember the superior education that I received.  I truly believe that I will excel and flourish as a social worker because of the exceptional professors who guided me through the program.  I will also be able to stand up and fight to empower the women and mothers that I encounter with the knowledge that I have gained through the immeasurable teachings from the professors in the Gender and Women’s Studies Program.  But what I am going to remember and miss the most, is the place that I call home on campus, and the family that came along with it.

Come to URCAD on Wednesday, April 25 where Information Systems student Satyajit DasSarma will present his research, "HaloWeb: An Integrated Web Application Suite for Prokaryotic Genomic and Transcriptomic Analysis".

HaloWeb is a web application suite for highly integrated genomic and transcriptomic analysis of prokaryotic microorganisms. With the arrival of new high-throughput sequencing technology, more genomic information is available than ever before, with an accompanying need for bioinformatic analysis tools.

Read the rest of his abstract here...

Video Games

10:00-11:30am- Patchwork Knight, Spook Room, Marscapone, Abduction, Steel Giants, Project Fadoodle

1:00-2:30pm- UMBC Game Developers Club Projects:  Star Marten, Project Phantom, Fansail, Top Cop, Marzipan, Baby Dragon Assassin, Little Golem, Ultrariah

This Wednesday, April 25th

Location: UC Ballroom

Games will be interactive in front of the UC Ballroom stage and projected on the big screen. Come test them out!

To read more about these projects, go to:

URCAD.umbc.edu

URCAD Film and Animation Festival

2:30pm- Emma Ayala, Strata: Layers in Space and Time

2:45pm- Mehki Adams, Super Predator

3:00pm- Courtney Culp, Color of me

3:15pm- Ezra Pailer, The Poetry of Jordann Allen: An Animated Documentary

3:30pm- Luke Ferguson, The Longfellow Hill

3:45pm- Rachel Morin, Freely You Have Received, Freely Give: A Documentary of Catholic Missions in Peru

Films will be shown in UC 310 this Wed. April 25th

Moderator: Prof. Corrie Parks

Filmmakers will discuss their films after the screenings.

Free popcorn!

To read these students' abstracts: URCAD.umbc.edu

This is Ms. Ruby Powell of the Semi-Suburban Housing Plant (Area 67).  She predicts that she will easily win the URCAD selfie contest.

"A lot of my friends are kind of jealous of me," Ms. Powell admitted. "They think I'm really too good to be taking selfies. That I should move up to another level, you know? Like maybe get a bigger phone and take pictures of mountains and galloping horses and that kind of thing."

Think you can beat Ms. Ruby Powell?

Upload your original photos to FaceBook and/or Twitter using  #umbcURCAD for a chance to win one of four gift cards to the UMBC Bookstore!

Categories:

• Best overall selfie: Take a photo with a UMBC celebrity (President Hrabowski, Provost Rous, Dean Cole…) or get creative!
• Best with mentor
• Best with family member
• Best with student presentation/poster

The contest starts on the evening of April 24 and will continue until the 27th at 6:00 p.m. To be eligible to win the contest, you must follow the steps outlined below including uploading your original photo to FaceBook, Instagram or Twitter using #umbcURCAD.

Come to the Dance Cube (337 PAHB) this Wednesday to see live performances by URCAD presenters!

Dance, Theatre, and Music Performances

10:00am- Melissa Hudson, The Weight of Waiting (dance)

10:20am- Madison Bramley, Standing on Two Feet (dance)

10:40am- Jolee Cohen, Jaques from As You Like It and Maria from Twelfth Night (Shakespearean Monologues)

11:00am- Zakari Jaworski, Scheduled Interruption (dance)

11:20am-Maia Schechter, Now Elsewhere (dance)

11:40am- Ellington Carthan, Black Radio: The Robert Glasper Experiment (music performance)

Dance performances will take place in the Dance Cube, 337 PAHB

Moderator: Prof. Doug Hamby

For the full URCAD schedule and to read these students' abstracts, see: URCAD.umbc.edu