Women’s Center returns to campus in new location. PHOTO CREDIT: Melissa Marchese
For the University of Rhode Island’s Women’s Center, the return to an in-person school year also means a return to the use of the Center’s in-person space.
According to the Women’s Center’s mission statement, its goal is to provide a safe, empowering space for students of all identities to feel welcome and included while engaging in dialogue regarding gender dialogue.
Previously located in its own building on Upper College Road, the Center moved in fall 2020 to a room in the Memorial Union. The organization was never able to occupy the room because it was never cleared out from the previous year, according to Christina Molinski, the interim director of the Women’s Center.
However, this year the Women’s Center will have a new space located in between Barlow and Weldin Halls at 7 Quarry Road, also known as the Gateway House.
Since the beginning of the pandemic in 2020, the Center has been forced online. Through this, Molinski and graduate assistant Emily Haggett did their best to facilitate and organize interactive online events such as trivia nights, book club meetings and informational classes on dating.
Molinski said that while the new location may seem tucked away from the rest of the campus, the new location is closer to other on-campus housing.
The Women’s Center’s housing is no longer in the same building as their offices now. Students who are looking to live in this housing will now be living in a 10-person suite located in Eddy Hall. The space promotes equity and social justice within the community through special programming and community building.
Haggett described the Women’s Center as an inclusive space for people of all identities.
“When you’re in college, and you are discovering yourself, it can be helpful to find other people who might relate to that,” Haggett said. According to her, the Women’s Center holds events with the goal of community building and the “however you come is perfectly acceptable.”
This year, the Center will be doing more to be inclusive, according to Molinski, “you’re not just a woman, you’re all your identities.” They plan on doing this by reaching out to and coordinating events with other organizations, such as the Multicultural Student Services Center in an effort to make the work more intersectional.
“‘I am not free while any woman is unfree,’” Molinski said, quoting Audre Lorde, “‘even when her shackles are very different from my own.’”
Molinski also emphasized she recognizes Haggett and herself are two white women, but both want students to know that the Women’s Center is safe space for all genders, races and sexual identities to come.
Both Molinski and Haggett are self-identified passionate feminists and are looking to learn and help create this safe space and provide a voice for those who need it. They were inspired by a strong female role in their households growing up. This showed them what being a woman or person could be, regardless of gender.
Some of the events that the Women’s Center will hold this semester include a Therapy Dog on Oct. 14 from 2-3 p.m., Nov. 11 from 2-3 p.m. and Dec. 2 from 2-3 p.m, Not Your Parent’s Sex Talk on Oct. 14 from 3-4 p.m., Asexual Singles Night on Oct. 15 from 6-8 p.m., Mental Health and Stress Talk on Nov. 11 from 3-4 p.m. and a Pillow Talk and Sleep Hygiene on Dec. 2 from 3-4 p.m.
The Women’s Center also welcomes walk-ins Monday-Friday from 12 p.m.-4 p.m. and scheduled appointments Monday-Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 12 p.m.