Women's Center marks five years of playing substantial role in diversity and inclusion efforts
Paige Meltzer
Five years ago, the newly-opened Wake Forest’s Women’s Center joined a new women’s leadership event, which attracted Wake Forest women and others to participate but also helped spread the word on campus that the new center was ready to play a big part in the University’s strategic plan for diversity and inclusion.
On March 20, the Wake Forest’s Women’s Center will present the fifth annual women’s leadership event. Offered in partnership with the Office of Student Engagement, the reimagined event called “Amplify: Women’s Leadership Expo” will take place from 5-6:30 p.m. in Reynolds Gym. It is open to undergraduate and graduate students, alumni, faculty and staff.
The Women’s Center opened in January 2013. It is located in Benson University Center on the third floor.
It has been led from the start by Paige Meltzer, who arrived as the center’s founding director from Harvard University, where her teaching had focused on gender, politics and social movements during the 20th Century in the United States. Paige holds a Ph.D. from Brown University. Prior to academia, Paige worked in Boston’s non-profit sector on public policy related to women’s economic justice.
“Our leadership event is aptly named. We’re trying to amplify the voices of women and to amplify the visibility of women’s leadership experiences,” Meltzer said. “By facilitating learning of new leadership skills, creating mentoring moments, and hearing women’s leadership stories, Amplify helps participants expand their leadership impact.”
And, more events are ahead this spring. Up next is a March 27 workshop that is part of the center’s “Gender Equity@Work” series for faculty, staff and graduate students. It will be held in Reynolda Hall. The series digs into themes that have emerged from brown bag lunches, book discussions, and speakers Meltzer hosts, as well as everyday conversations. Upcoming workshops explore work/life balance, boundary-setting, imposter phenomenon and limiting gender norms.
Since the Women’s Center opened, it has organized events ranging from academic-credit classes to summer writing groups, as well as discussion groups, workshops, and community engagement opportunities. The Women’s Center also provides support and mentorship for students, staff and faculty.
“We’re here to build Wake Forest’s capacity for gender equity as part of creating a diverse and inclusive Wake Forest,” Meltzer said. “We have a wide range of offerings because people learn in different ways and engage around different kinds of activities.”
Colleen Lofton
Meltzer is especially excited about the center’s work developing student leaders. This year, assistant director Colleen Lofton launched a peer education program aligned with the model used by the Office of Wellbeing.
“Our peer educators are designing and implementing their own programming to educate their peers about gender equity issues,” Meltzer said.
The Women’s History Month programming coming out of the Women’s Center has also been created by students. And none of the center’s work would be possible without their student worker team.
Carrying out its mission often involves collaborating with staff and faculty and students campuswide.
“We are fortunate to be part of a generous community who want to do this work with us,” Meltzer said. “It’s been an incredible five years.”
Reflecting on the five-year anniversary, 2016 Wake Forest graduate Deborah Marke said, “The Women’s Center wasn’t just a space to learn – it was my home. It was the space where I felt most authentically myself, a space where I was challenged to go further, to be better, and where I felt I most belonged. Because of the WFU Women’s Center, I now work at the Women’s Center at the University of Cincinnati and I hope I am creating a space where students can bring their whole selves in the same way WFU Women’s Center did for me.” Read more
Categories: Inside WFU, Staff News
In Support of DACA students at Wake Forest University
The following message went out to the Wake Forest University campus community on Sept. 3:
Dear Wake Forest Students, Faculty, and Staff,
The current political climate around the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program is one of uncertainty and confusion, not only for Wake Forest students enrolled in the program, but also for their families, friends, classmates, faculty and staff. Given that climate, we cannot provide clarity about the program’s continuation or possible changes to federal policy. However, it is critically important for everyone in our campus community – and especially those worried about their safety and freedom to pursue their studies – to know that Wake Forest is here to support all our students, including those who are not U.S. citizens.
In December, President Hatch joined hundreds of other university leaders in signing a petition asking then-President-elect Trump to uphold and expand DACA. Yet, as a decision from the White House looms, the Office of Diversity and Inclusion – through our Intercultural Center, Women’s Center, and LGTBQ Center – acknowledges the anxiety and frustration associated with not knowing the impact of changes to current federal policies. Please consider our collective staff available should you need to an attentive ear or a comforting space. In addition, please remember that the University Counseling Center (117 Reynolda Hall) can provide expert and clinical confidential support, that the International Students and Scholars division (116 Reynolda) can provide up-to-date information and implications for changes to federal policies around immigration procedures and statutes, and that the Chaplain’s Office (8 Reynolda) can provide spaces that facilitate reflection and solace. Finally, consider your own personal support network of family, friends, and staff and professor allies, and how they can be affirming.
Wake Forest, like other institutions of higher education, will continue to monitor changes to DACA. We will also continue to assess progress or updates to Congressional actions, including the BRIDGE Act and the Recognizing America’s Children Act (a rewrite of the Dream Act). Ultimately, the academic and personal-social wellbeing of DACA students at Wake Forest is something we neither take lightly nor take for granted.
As President Hatch has said, we are a community that stands up for one another in the face of discrimination. We are a place committed to respecting and preserving the dignity of all people – from every nation. We are a campus that welcomes diverse people and viewpoints. Our campus is richer for our diverse population and we will continue to provide financial aid, support services, and connection to legal resources for undocumented students. You belong here and you are welcome here.
Sincerely,
José A. Villalba, Interim Chief Diversity Officer
Johnathan McElderry, Director, Intercultural Center
Angela Mazaris, Director, LGBTQ Center
Paige Meltzer, Director, The Women’s Center
Categories: Inside WFU
Women’s Center explores friendships, work/life balance & more
Gallup’s State of the American Workplace: Employee Engagement Insights for U.S. Business Leaders report shows having a best friend at work offers social and collaborative opportunities that are integral to workplace engagement and wellbeing.
At noon, on Sept. 18 in the Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies lounge and library in the basement of Tribble Hall, the Women’s Center’s “Working Women at Wake Brown Bag Lunch Series” will focus on workplace friendships.
Cynthia Gendrich, theatre professor and director of the Interdisciplinary Performance and the Liberal Arts Center (IPLACe), will lead a discussion on friendships based around the upcoming Mainstage production “These Shining Lives.” The play, which opens Sept. 19, intertwines the stories of four women, their friendships and their long-standing workplace relationships.
Categories: Events
Staff Advisory council meeting report
The following is a list of highlights from the February 26 meeting of the Staff Advisory Council (SAC): Read more
Categories: Staff News
Meltzer to speak at SAC meeting
Paige Meltzer, director of Wake Forest University’s new Women’s Center, will speak at the next meeting of the Staff Advisory Council (SAC).
The SAC will meet from 9:30 a.m. to 11 a.m. on Feb. 26 in Benson University Center, Room 401 C/D.
Joining Meltzer in speaking at the meeting will be Barbee Myers Oakes, assistant provost for diversity and inclusion.
Wake Forest opened the Women’s Center in January with Meltzer as director. (read more »)
Meltzer, who comes to Wake Forest from Harvard University, holds a doctorate in women’s history and is an advocate for public policy initiatives that create a culture of inclusivity. She sees the Center as a place of collaboration and networking and plans to let campus constituents shape the Center’s priorities. But she does anticipate promoting female leadership in student government and other campus organizations, professional development, and body wellness.
All University staff members are invited to meetings of the SAC.
Categories: Events
