The Tampon Dispenser Survey –

Several members of the EMU Women’s Commission were concerned about the lack of personal care items available to women on campus. We surveyed the campus looking for tampon dispenser machines and found almost none in the restrooms! We reported these findings to the Women’s Commission, who is now working with the Women’s Center to rectify this issue.

The Pay Equity Bake Sale – February 2007

Although we could not bake goods due to health code restrictions, we did sell pre-packaged items to raise money for “Dress for Success” organization in Washtenaw. They supply new and gently used professional clothing as well as training for low income women re-entering the workforce.

The “Pay Equity” part? Michigan women make $.67 for every $1 a man earns….so we charged women $.67 and we charged men $1. We raised money, raised awareness and had a lot of fun!

For more statistics, visit the Institute for Women’s Policy Research at: www.iwpr.org

Safe House Holiday Donation Drive with SACSA - December 2006

We worked with the Sociology, Anthropology and Criminology Student Association to collect personal care items, clothing and monetary donations for Safe House, the domestic violence shelter in Washtenaw County. With the donations we were able to purchase several gift cards to target which were then distributed as holiday gifts to the children staying in the shelter.

Visit their website at www.safehousecenter.org

Women’s History Month – March 2007

The WGSSA hosted two movie nights during Women’s History Month in celebration of the theme, “The Commonality of Differences”. The films we chose were Bend it Like Beckham (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0286499/) and Real Women have Curves (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0296166/). These two films were funny and lighthearted, yet showed the commonality of struggles that young women from different cultures face. To see the list of events from 2007’s Women’s History Month visit: http://www.emich.edu/wstudies/whmonth/whm_archive_2007/index.html

Love Your Body Day – October 2007

We worked in conjunction with the EMU Women’s Center to plan a fun celebration of Love Your Body Day. We tabled all day in the Student Center showing student how to make a homemade pumpkin body scrub. We also had a viewing of the film “Killing Us Softly” about the negative portrayal of women in advertisements and the media. http://loveyourbody.nowfoundation.org/

Voter Registration Drive

In the Fall 2006 and 2007 we collaborated with other organizations on campus to help register students to vote.

These Hands Don’t Hurt – October 2007

October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month and we worked together with the Alpha Kappa Lambda ( http://www.aklemu.com/ ) fraternity on the These Hands Don’t Hurt Campaign. It is a nationwide program designed to raise awareness among men and encourage them to join with women to end domestic violence. For a donation to Safe House you could trace your hand to pledge that you will not be a part of the violence.

Roe v. Wade Anniversary – January 2007

Each year we celebrate the anniversary of the pivotal Supreme Court decision to uphold a woman’s constitutional right to a legal and safe abortion in the United States. This date, January 22^nd, was commemorated by hosting a party called “Get Down for Choice” in Ypsilanti with the Washtenaw County Coalition for Choice which included groups like NOW and Planned Parenthood. Another event will be planned for January 2008!