The Women’s and Gender Studies Program offers students the opportunity to participate in an innovative program that involves mentoring girls at an Ypsilanti middle school. By enrolling in the undergraduate course "WGST 230: Conversations with Girls," EMU students are schooled in the theoretical and practical aspects of mentoring, and then perform field work as "femtors" to engage girls in activities and discussions on subjects pertaining to self esteem, such as media and body image, friendship issues, teasing and harassment, celebrating diversity, dream-building, and drawing on girls’ agency to create social change. Mentoring opportunities are also available for work with other youth populations. Students who have participated in this program have found it to be a life-changing experience!


Women’s History Month, held every March, is another point of pride for the Women’s Studies Program. To celebrate women’s accomplishments, a variety of events are scheduled throughout the month. The theme for Women’s History Month 2007 is: "The Commonality of Difference: Women’s Lives in the Global Community."  Women’s History Month is a wonderful oppurtunity for campus and community involvement with our program.


The Women’s and Gender Studies Program also sponsors the Olga Madar Lectureship for the Empowerment of Women. Olga Madar was a 1938 graduate of Michigan Normal College (now EMU) and in 1966 became the first woman to be elected to the Executive Board of the United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America International Union (UAW). A tireless advocate for women’s equality, she helped to found the Michigan Women’s Political Caucus and the Network for Economic Rights in 1971, and the Coalition of Labor Union Women (CLUW) in 1974. The lecture brings renowned political scholars and leaders to the EMU campus for engagement with students, faculty and staff, and community members in an effort to increase awareness of polititcal leadership oppurtunities for women.