By Emily Glazer Contributing Writer
They are women, hear them roar.
Tuesday afternoon, the Women’s Center celebrated its 20th anniversary at Scott Hall, with guest speaker Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.), who told a group of about 30 people that women need to recognize when they are qualified for public office.
“If we emptied out a couple seats (in Congress) and put women there, we’d be way better off,” she said.
Schakowsky discussed women’s advancement in politics but stressed that not enough change has come about. From 1985 to 1987, there were 25 female representatives in the House and the Senate combined, she said. From 2005 to 2007, there’s a combined total of 84 female representatives.
Although it seems like a significant increase, according to Schakowsky’s calculations, it won’t be until 2083 that these numbers will reach equality between men and women.
“There’s a ways to go,” she said, “and we ought to speed up the pace.”
Schakowsky also read from a study conducted at Brown University titled “Why Women Don’t Run For Office.” The study showed, among many other things, that women are still not equal in terms of salaries.
“We need to change the workplace and the political environment, since it hasn’t kept pace with our own capacities, especially beyond education,” she said.
The event began with Renee Redd, Women’s Center director, who addressed the largely adult audience. Redd, who has been the director since 1994, discussed the history of the center, which opened to stress the “positive impact of the status of women.”
In 1986, the former Program on Women expanded to the Women’s Center to bring about equality for women on campus. Through educational programming, advocacy, outreach, coalition-building, counseling and referral programs, the center has tried to transform Northwestern into a community that recognizes gender equality.
Although many people believe that the Women’s Center primarily deals with issues of sexual violence, Redd said other programs have been created to represent all needs of NU women.
The center offers programs on career advancement, health awareness, safety and self defense, said Elisabeth Lindsay-Ryan, director of programs. She also stressed that most of these events or classes are open to both men and women.
“As we look to try to create a better future, we must collaborate,” she said. “(Equality) cannot be done in a vacuum, in isolation.”
The celebration continued with a video documentary from center assistant Kate Donalek that illustrated the importance of the center.
Rae Moses, associate professor emeritus of linguistics and women’s studies, attended the celebration and was also featured in the documentary.
Moses once lived in the house where the Women’s Center is located and also played a pivotal role in creating the center.
The gender studies program, formerly the women’s studies program, where Moses had been director for six years, has “subsequently evolved in a good way (in terms of) studying men and women – both the similarities and the differences,” she said.
Delphine Lee, a Weinberg sophomore and the ASG senator for College Feminists, was one of the students who attended. She said she hoped her presence would continue the good relations between College Feminists and the Women’s Center.
After the program, audience members asked Schakowsky her opinion on the 2008 presidential election.
She said Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) “is the future,” and “the only one who can win, since he’s the quintessential 21st-century candidate.”
She does believe that a woman could win the race, but not Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.).
“Barack’s different, he can lift us,” she said.
Schakowsky insisted that college women create expectations in order to continue to make progress.
“Know your power, be brave and just do it.”
Reach Emily Glazer at [email protected].
